Thirteen Moons
by Proteus-92
Summary: Thirteen moons remain until the portal connecting the pony world and the human world opens. Before the portal opens, Sunset Shimmer and friends must venture across the globe, battling fierce monsters and meeting new allies, to save the human world from uncontrollable magical energies.
1. I: Prelude

**Author's Note: This story originally included hyperlinks leading to ambient music tracks on Youtube, intended to enhance the reading experience. However, due to the formatting of this particular site, these hyperlinks are not available in this version of the story. Although these hyperlinks are not necessary to enjoy the story, I strongly recommend that that this work be read in its original format, which is available on FiMFiction.**

* * *

The sun rose slowly over the sleeping city of Canterlot. Nestled in a blanket of thick spring fog, the city and its inhabitants had yet to wake from their slumber. But though the city slept, the world outside its confines had long since awoken, already deeply immersed in its routines and motions.

It was in this early hour that two people emerged from the brush on a bluff overlooking the city- the first was a boy, clad in armor of deep purple and pale green, carved to resemble a dragon. He was followed by a young woman wearing dark blue robes and a pointed, wide-brimmed hat that obscured most of her face.

The young woman approached the edge of the bluff, lifting up her brim to get a better view. "We are here at last," she said.

The boy in the dragon armor approached the edge as well. "So, this is it?"

"If all of my calculations are correct- and I have no reason to doubt myself- then yes. _This _is the epicenter."

"Huh..." The boy in the dragon armor put his foot up on a nearby rock, and leaned out to get a better view of the city. "I have to admit, it's not at all what I was expecting. It seems so... plain."

"Places such as this most often are. Now…" The young woman turned away from the edge. "…are you ready?"

The boy turned as well. "Well yeah, I'm ready, but... are you sure this is really necessary?"

The girl brought up a hand. "We are faced with energies the likes of which threaten to destabilize the very structure of the world itself- a certain level of coercion may become necessary." She closed her eyes and concentrated- as she did, a white glow appeared around her hand. "And at any rate, the chimera will sniff out and lead us to the catalyst."

She pointed, and a glowing sigil appeared on the ground in front of her, before it let out a brilliant flash of light. The two shielded their eyes; when they looked again, a massive beast stood where the glyph had been. Its four heads roared in fury as soon as it laid eyes on the two- the boy reached, and gripped the spear hanging from his back… but the beast suddenly stopped. It lifted its heads, one-by-one, and began sniffing the air. Then the chimera's attention snapped towards the town- it snarled, before it charged forward and without hesitation, leapt off the cliff.

A few moments later, the earth shook as the chimera struck the ground, but as the boy and the young woman looked over the edge, they could see the chimera sprinting towards the town, unaffected by the fall.

The young boy pulled the spear from his back. "What now?" he asked the girl.

"Now..." She drew a long curved dagger from her belt. "It begins."

* * *

A piercing sound filled the air. Sunset Shimmer jolted awake and let out a startled cry, flailing wildly.

It took a moment for her to remember that it was her alarm.

Sunset took hold of the buzzing, shrieking cellphone lying next to her and silenced it. It was one of Rarity's old cellphones, the kind with no touchscreen, and on which one had to slide the screen up in order to use the dial. But while it might not have had the features of newer models, Sunset had found that in this world even an old cellphone was better than no cellphone at all.

Setting the phone aside, Sunset dressed herself and stepped out of her tent- the athletic fields were still covered in a heavy fog, but it would soon disperse as the sun rose. In spite of her jacket, she crossed her arms over her chest and shivered- the morning air still held the cold bite of winter, even this late into March. With little else to do, she pocketed her phone and broke down her tent, storing it in a safe place, before walking around to the front side of Canterlot High.

The front of the school- normally bustling even at this early hour- was deserted, and it would stay deserted for the whole week. Spring Break had come to Canterlot High once again, and everyone who could had already left the town to enjoy their vacation. Even the others- Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy- had left town to go camping. They _had_ invited her, but Sunset couldn't bear the thought of leaving Canterlot even for a week. So here she was, alone.

Sunset Shimmer had settled into a comfortable routine over the past year and a half: she woke up and went to classes at Canterlot High to fill up the seemingly endless amounts of free time she now found herself with. When the school day ended, one of her new friends might invite her to participate in some activity- if not, then she explored this world's Canterlot, noting any similarities between this one and the Canterlot of her own world. She was always surprised to find more similarities than differences. At the end of the day, she returned to the school to camp out in the fields for the night (or, in the gym, during the winter).

Sunset Shimmer approached the statue set at the front of the school. The statue depicted a horse rearing up on its hind legs, but her focus was not on the statue itself, but its base- specifically, on an unassuming stone slate set on the back. The slate reflected Sunset with surprising clarity, even through the water droplets that had condensed on its surface.

Then, Sunset brought up her hand, and pressed it against the slate. Every morning, and every evening, she did this. And twice a day, every day, she received the same result.

The stone refused to yield.

Sunset looked down sadly. To be so close, to be separated from her world by mere millimeters… it frustrated her to no end. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the time she had spent in this world- she _did_. She would always be grateful to her friends, and remember their time together fondly. But she missed her world, her old life. She had been in this world for so long, that she could barely remember what she looked like as a pony, what it felt like to stand on four hooves. And, she missed her magic- the technology of this world, wondrous as it may have been, couldn't replace _everything_.

"Ya know, standin' there starin' at that portal ain't gonna make it open any faster."

Sunset jumped up in surprise, not anticipating company, much less a very familiar drawl. She turned around; sure enough, Applejack was standing behind her, accompanied by Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. Sunset noticed that all five wore large, heavy-looking packs.

"Guys?" she asked. "What are you doing here? I thought you already left town."

"About that…" Rarity began. "We all know how reluctant you are to leave Canterlot. So, we had a discussion about our camping trip and decided-"

Pinkie Pie leapt forward, interrupting Rarity. "We decided to camp out on the football field with you!"

Sunset's eyes widened in surprise. "You'd… do that?" she replied, stunned. "I… that's…"

"Alright, alright, don't get all weepy on us," Rainbow Dash said. "Now come on. We're gonna go get breakfast."

Sunset nodded. "Alright." And with that, she followed her friends down the path to the sidewalk, away from the statue.

**Thirteen Moons  
By: Proteus-92**

**Chapter I: Prelude**

As the group walked alongside the empty street, Sunset looked to Applejack. "Hey, Applejack…" she began. "How are, um… Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh?"

"They're doin' alright," Applejack replied. "Why do ya ask?"

"Well, I haven't seen them around lately…"

"Big Mac graduated last year, remember? And Apple Bloom just transferred to a school back in Ponyville is all. Granny Smith said somethin' about needin' extra help 'round the farm."

Rarity then added, "You know, my parents transferred Sweetie Belle back to Ponyville, too. And their friend Scootaloo is gone as well."

"It's not just them, you know," Pinkie said. "Half the students are gone. Haven't you noticed?"

Sunset hadn't really thought about it before then, but now that Pinkie had mentioned it, she was _right_. Ever since the spring semester had started, the number of students in Canterlot High had been declining, slowly but steadily- all of her classes, which had been full in January, now had _at least_ five students who never seemed to show up.

"Oh, I do hope it's nothing too serious…" Fluttershy said.

The six of them eventually reached their destination: a small diner about a block away from the school. It was normally a popular hangout for Canterlot High's students, but with everyone gone for the week, combined with the early hour, it was nearly deserted when they entered.

"Hey guys," the young man behind the counter called. He was short and stocky, with greyish skin and dull orange hair, wearing an apron over his usual ensemble. "What can I get for you?"

"Hey Snips!" Pinkie called back. "Six orders of pancakes, on the double!"

"Gotcha!" He then called to the back, "Yo Snails! Six orders of flapjacks! Make it snappy!"

"Since when have Snips and Snails worked here?" Rainbow asked, as the group sat down at an empty table.

"Since October. They mostly work on weekends, though," Pinkie replied. She then leaned over the table and asked, "So Fluttershy, how have things been at the animal shelter?"

"Busy," Fluttershy replied. "There're lots of lost animals and strays around town this time of year. But things have gotten easier since Sunset Shimmer started volunteering."

"I'm glad to hear that," Rarity replied, before she looked to Sunset. "Speaking of which, you know you can stay with any of us, don't you, Sunset? Surely it would be better than having to sleep out on the football field every night."

"Thanks for the offer," Sunset began "but I'd rather stay here in Canterlot. If I leave, something might happen to the mirror." She rested her arms on the table, before resting her head on top of them. "Besides, I'm not sure I deserve that sort of hospitality just yet."

Applejack let out an exasperated sigh. "This _again?_" she said. "C'mon Sunset. Ya gotta stop beatin' yerself up over all that already. I'm pretty sure everyone forgave ya by the time ya finished rebuildin' Canterlot High's front entrance."

Sunset looked up at Applejack. "Have you ever thought that maybe you forgive people too easily?"

Applejack glared and opened her mouth to reply, before Snips interrupted her. "Here you go," he said as he laid a plate of pancakes in front of each person, six in total. "Six orders of pancakes. Hope we didn't keep you waiting."

"Alright!" Pinkie exclaimed, before she began shoveling pancakes into her gullet with reckless abandon.

Applejack picked up her fork, and pointed it accusingly at Sunset. "Don't think yer off the hook just yet, Shimmer," she said, before she cut into her pancakes as well.

_I never did_, Sunset thought to herself, as she reflected on the events of that night yet again. Destroying the school, hypnotizing most of the students, almost killing Twilight and the others… those weren't things that were easily forgiven, if ever. If she was in Applejack's position, she'd certainly resent her for what she'd done. Heck, _she_ was the one who attacked Twilight and the others, and _she_ hadn't forgiven herself for it.

However, Sunset's introspection was interrupted as she happened to overhear the conversation at the table behind her: "Hey. Have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"People say there are monsters out in the countryside. From what I heard, all the towns around Canterlot have started building walls to keep 'em out."

"Is this another one of those 'friend of a friend' things?"

"What- no! It's true! The wall part is, at least. When I went up to Whinnyapolis a few weeks ago, people were building a huge wall around the whole town."

After the events of the Fall Formal, Sunset had chosen to set herself apart from the rest of Canterlot High's students, but that didn't mean she was unaware of the gossip that passed among them. And this was not the first time she had heard this particular rumor. As far back as the previous year, there had been persistent rumors of strange things happening in the world outside of Canterlot: eerie lights, strange creatures, and the like. Sunset had always dismissed those rumors, but the fact that they had endured for so long suggested there was _some_ sort of truth to them.

So she asked, "Hey girls… have you heard about anything… _strange_ happening lately?"

"I can't say that I have," Rarity replied.

"Me neither," Pinkie somehow replied through a mouthful of pancake.

"Well, I've been hearing about a whole bunch of weird stuff on the news lately," Rainbow said. "But I don't think it's anything we need to worry about."

There was an explosion.

Sunset was thrown from her seat and hit the ground hard. Her vision went black, and she could hear nothing, save for the beating of her heart. But slowly, her vision returned, and she staggered to her feet. But as soon as she was upright, heavy footfalls thundered toward her, and _something_ seized her by the throat, hoisting her into the air. She gasped, and her hands immediately shot up to the massive arm holding her. She pulled, she twisted, she flailed her legs, but the viselike grip on her throat refused to loosen even slightly. She'd been holding a fork, but the explosion had thrown it from her grasp- now she had nothing, no weapon with which she could free herself.

The air was filled with a thick cloud of dust, but though it she could see a feral, bestial face glaring at her. The sound of Sunset's heartbeats hammered in her eardrums, drowning out the cries of the others, and the deep growls of the beast. She couldn't even cry out in pain as the massive hand tightened around her throat. Her edges of her vision darkened, and her struggles began to weaken…

…until a furious cry met her ears, and a blue hand stabbed a knife into the arm holding her.

A screeching, howling roar drilled into Sunset's ears as the massive arm released her. Sunset fell onto her knees, gasping, her hand clutching her aching throat. She looked up; a thick cloud of dust swirled through the diner. But even so, Sunset could see two shadows a short distance away: a large, lumbering shadow, and a smaller, much more agile shadow. Only one person Sunset knew was that fast, and the shout that came to her ears confirmed it: "Come on, ya dumb ape! Catch me if you can!"

Rainbow Dash.

In an instant, Sunset was on her feet. Rainbow may have been fast, but it would only take one slip-up for that beast to gain the upper hand and end her life. And after everything Rainbow had done for her- after everything _everyone_ had done for her, she would be damned before she let that happen.

Sunset hadn't used magic for nearly a year and a half. She'd known for far longer that the world she now lived in was one without magic. But in that moment, she forgot all of that. Her years of training kicked in- she focused, picturing a flame in her mind, oblivious to the bright wisps that surrounded her arms. She took aim at the larger shadow- not a difficult feat, as it struggled to keep up with Rainbow's superior speed. Then, she thrust her arms forward.

And Sunset Shimmer could only watch in stunned silence when a blazing fireball left her hands.

The fireball shot through the air, and struck the beast. It roared in a mix of pain and fury, the discordant sound echoing in the tiny diner, and stumbled forward. Then, its attention snapped to Sunset. It let out another furious roar, and charged at her, batting aside everything in its path.

There was no time to prepare another spell. And trying to fight this monster unarmed would be suicide. There was only one thing Sunset could do- she leapt out of the way, avoiding the beast's charge, barely. As she got to her feet, she made a fairly obvious observation.

There was no way she could fight this thing in the diner.

And she couldn't look for her friends while this thing was chasing her down, either.

But after being hit by her fireball, the beast seemed to completely forget about Rainbow's existence, which gave Sunset an idea- if she could lure the beast out of the diner, away from her friends, then maybe they would be safe. She looked around, spotting a large hole in the diner's wall- presumably where the monster had entered. But of course, the beast was standing between her and the hole. However, Sunset was undeterred, and braced herself. "Rainbow Dash!" she shouted. "Find the others! Make sure they're okay!" And then, Sunset began to sprint towards the hole.

If Rainbow answered her, Sunset didn't hear it. All of her attention was focused on the beast in front of her, trying to predict its next move. The world slowed as the beast drew back its arm in preparation to deliver a bone-shattering punch. But at the last possible moment, Sunset leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the beast's massive fist. She rolled, and in an instant was on her feet once again- it seemed all those times she'd helped Rainbow practice her soccer skills hadn't gone completely to waste.

She dashed through the hole, and out into the street. There were people there, no doubt drawn by the commotion. "_Get out of here! It's not safe!_" she shouted. But it wasn't until the sound of splintering wood and bending metal met her ears that the crowd turned and fled. And there could only be one reason why. She looked back- sure enough, climbing through the hole after her was the beast.

Now that they were both in the open, Sunset could see the beast clearly. It seemed to be a mixture of several different creatures- it stood on two hoofed legs, and thick, heavy arms grew from its muscular torso. But what truly astounded her were its heads. There were three: a lion's, an eagle's, and a goat's. And all three had their attention firmly fixed on her.

Sunset focused, and flames appeared in her hands. The beast must have realized what she was doing, because at that moment, it charged at her again with a furious roar. But Sunset held her ground as she threw another fireball at the beast, striking it square in the chest. The beast didn't slow, but as it thrashed in pain, Sunset was easily able to sidestep its charge.

But as the beast passed, something whipped out toward her. Sunset jumped back, narrowly avoiding the fangs of a snake, sprouting from the beast's lower back like a tail.

The beast slowed itself to a stop before it crashed through the storefront opposite the diner, and turned to face her again. Sunset focused, her hands coming alight, and thought to herself, _This just couldn't be easy, could it?_

The beast charged her twice more; each time, Sunset conjured a fireball, threw it at the beast, and evaded its attacks. But with each pass, Sunset slowed, but it wasn't her muscles that tired. She felt as though a thick fog had settled in her mind, clouding her thoughts; her temples ached, and each fireball she threw took more concentration to conjure than the last. It became clear to her that if she was going to survive, she had to end this, now. Sunset's head pulsed in pain as she held out her arms and focused, picturing in her mind not a flame, but a powerful thunderbolt. The palms of her hand crackled with electricity…

But the beast struck first. It charged Sunset with incredible speed and struck her with its arm, sending her tumbling across the asphalt. She eventually skidded to a stop- she was battered and bleeding, but Sunset didn't think anything had been broken. But her relief was short-lived, as she saw that the beast was already almost upon her. Sunset tried to conjure another fireball, but none appeared- instead, she doubled over and clutched her head as a sharp pain stabbed into the sides of her head. The beast reached out toward her…

Suddenly, a black streak shot into the air behind the beast. One of the beast's head must have seen it too, because all four looked to the sky. Sunset looked up as well- there, seemingly suspended in midair, was a boy holding a long spear, drawn back to strike. As he landed he swung his spear, slicing off the beast's eagle head in a single motion.

The beast roared, hissed, and bleated in a mix of pain and fury, and charged the boy, drawing back its fist to deliver yet another bone-shattering punch. The boy jumped back, evading the beast's fist, and swung his spear again, slicing off the beast's arm with ease. The beast turned, and its snake head struck; the boy dodged again, before swinging his spear, severing the snake from the beast's body. It lunged forward, the goat's head lowered in an attempt to gore the boy with its horns; again, the boy evaded the attack, before slicing off the goat head in a single stroke. The beast drew back its remaining arm, but the boy sliced the arm off before it could strike. The loss of several limbs seemingly did nothing to deter the beast, however, and it charged again, the lion's head roaring and baring its fangs. The boy stood his ground, and thrust his spear directly into the lion head's face- he slid back as the beast continued to march towards him, but he did not falter.

Gradually, the beast began to slow. Its roars had diminished to little more than deep, growling breaths. It dropped to one knee, and then the other. The boy pulled out his spear and stepped back- with one last snarl, the beast collapsed onto its face, falling still and silent.

The boy remained motionless with his spear at the ready for several more moments, before he stood up straight, and hung his spear from his back. Now that he was standing still, Sunset could see that the boy was wearing what looked like a suit of armor, colored a dark purple with pale green highlights. And when he turned to face her, she could see that his helmet was carved to resemble the visage of a dragon.

The strange boy approached. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Sunset slowly rose to her feet. "Yeah, I'm fine, but…" She remembered something. "Guys?" She looked to the diner. No one else had emerged from within. "_Guys!_" Without another word to the stranger, she stood and sprinted to the diner.

As she approached, she heard Rainbow Dash call, "Hey Snips! Snails! You aright back there?"

"Yeah, we're-" Snips's response was interrupted by several seconds of coughing. "…we're okay."

"Oh man… Joe's gonna kill us when he sees this…" Snails complained.

Hearing Rainbow's voice did little to calm Sunset- she still had four more friends, and no way of knowing where they were and if they were alright.

She climbed through the hole in the diner's wall- the dust had finally settled, leaving a thick layer over everything inside. The lights had gone out. Behind the counter, Snips was on his phone, presumably calling the police, while Snails merely stared blankly at the destruction before him. But a pink blur at the edge of her vision caught Sunset's attention- she looked, her eyes falling upon…

"Pinkie!" Sunset rushed over and embraced Pinkie. "You're okay!" She pulled away- Pinkie had a few cuts, and a few more tears in her clothes than usual, but otherwise appeared unhurt. "…Where're the others?"

"Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and I are okay. Applejack's unconscious, but I don't think she's too badly hurt. But Fluttershy…"

Sunset leaned in. "What happened?"

"Well… look." Pinkie pointed to the far side of the diner.

The others were there. Rarity was sitting at one of the tables, resting a hand on her forehead, covered in a thick layer of dust- at her feet sat Applejack, slumped over and seemingly asleep. At another table were two boys Sunset didn't recognize, sitting in silence. On the floor between the tables were Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. At first, Sunset couldn't see anything wrong with Fluttershy. She did seem to be in pain, though; tears streamed from her eyes, and Rainbow sat on the floor next to her, speaking comforting words to her. But as she approached, Sunset saw the problem.

A large piece of wood had lodged itself in Fluttershy's right leg.

Sunset knelt down to get a better view- the wooden fragment had pierced one side of Fluttershy's calf, and emerged through the other. From its position, it didn't seem to be passing through any bones, but such an injury would still be very debilitating.

…at the same time, however, such an injury would be trivially easy to mend with a healing spell.

Sunset looked up to Fluttershy's face. "Okay Fluttershy," she began, "I can fix this. But I'm not gonna lie- this is gonna hurt. _A lot_." She looked over to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, I need you to hold her down." She looked back. "Pinkie, I need you to help Rainbow Dash."

"Sunset, you're not supposed to-" Rainbow began.

But Sunset cut her off. "I know what I'm doing. Hold her."

Pinkie and Rainbow glanced at each other nervously, but complied, and held Fluttershy down. Sunset gripped Fluttershy's ankle with one hand, the piece of wood with the other… and tore it out of Fluttershy's calf. Fluttershy thrashed and cried out in pain, but the others held her down firmly. As she expected, blood began to pour from the wound, so Sunset wasted no time placing her hands over the holes. She focused, ignoring the pain in her head, and a white light shone from beneath her hands as she recalled Celestia's lessons, encouraging the wound to heal- for new muscle, skin, and arteries to knit themselves into existence.

When Sunset removed her hands a few moments later, the wound was gone, as though it had never existed in the first place.

She looked up to Fluttershy again. "Can you stand?"

"I… guess…" Fluttershy stammered. Pinkie and Rainbow released her, and slowly, she rose to her feet. She stumbled for a moment, but did not fall.

"Joint stiffness is normal," Sunset continued. "It'll subside after a minute or two."

"What- how did you do that?" Rainbow asked, shocked, as she looked at the place where Fluttershy's would had been.

Sunset answered truthfully, "…with magic."

Pinkie looked to Sunset. "But I thought you couldn't do magic anymore."

"That's what I thought too…" Sunset replied.

Just then, Applejack groaned, before suddenly jolting awake, shouting "Apple Bloom!" She looked around the diner, before her hand shot up to her head. "…where's mah hat?"

Rarity handed Applejack her hat as the latter stood up. "Are you alright, dear?"

Applejack looked down at herself. "Ah think so… but what in the hay just happened?"

The others were silent, attempting to formulate a response. Finally, Rarity replied, "A… giant monster just crashed through the wall and tried to kill us all."

"No," a strange voice said. Sunset and the others looked to its source- standing just outside the hole was the boy in the dragon armor. "That chimera wasn't trying to kill _all_ of you," he continued, and then pointed to Sunset Shimmer. "Just her."

Before anyone could stop her, Applejack strode toward the strange boy, glaring. "_And just what makes ya so sure of __**that?**_" she snapped.

"Hold on, Applejack," Sunset said. "That guy killed that monster. Why would he do that if he wanted to hurt us?" But Applejack ignored her.

Before the boy could answer, a woman's voice outside the diner called, "There you are. And I see that you have neutralized the chimera." Another person approached the hole- she wore dark blue robes, and a pointed, wide-brimmed hat which hid her face. "Does that mean you have located the catalyst?"

The boy looked back. "Yeah, I think so."

"Excellent work," the woman in the steeple-hat replied. "Now, it is time for me to begin _my_ work." The woman stepped into the diner and approached Applejack, putting her hand on Applejack's forehead.

"Hey what're you-" Applejack protested.

But the woman paid no attention to Applejack's protest. Rather, she looked down at her other hand, but after a moment, nothing seemed to happen. So, she shook her head and turned away, before doing the same to Rarity, again ignoring her protests; but again, seemingly nothing happened. It was not until she reached Rainbow Dash that something happened- a faint blue glow appeared in her free hand. Her eyes, now visible in the faint glow, widened slightly in surprise, but once again she shook her head and moved on. Fluttershy whimpered as the stranger touched her forehead- a much brighter white glow emerged from her hand, but as before, the stranger turned away.

Finally, the stranger approached Sunset, and placed her hand on her forehead. As soon as she made contact, a brilliant red light shone from the stranger's free hand. The stranger looked at the light for several moments, before she pulled her hand away.

"I found you at last," she said.

Sunset yanked her hand out of the stranger's own. "_What did you just do?_" she demanded, as flames erupted from her hands.

The stranger didn't flinch. "Your aggression is unwarranted. I am _not_ your enemy."

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow asked. "Then who are you?"

The woman removed her hat- a length of long purple hair parted by a magenta streak fell to her shoulders. Sunset and the others could see that she was young, with violet eyes and lavender skin. And what's more, she looked extremely familiar…

Sunset stepped back, the fires in her hands snuffing out. "Wait a minute… you're…"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle," Twilight Sparkle said.


	2. II: Beginnings, Part I

**Chapter II: Beginnings, Part I**

Twilight motioned the boy in the dragon armor. "And this is Spike, my assistant and bodyguard."

The boy in the dragon armor- _Spike_- waved to the group. "Hey."

Sunset stumbled back, eyes wide, struggling to string her words together. "H… How… How did you get here? The portal isn't supposed to open for another year."

Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion. "…I do apologize, but I do not believe I have ever met you before today. Have you perhaps mistaken me for someone else?"

Sunset was just about to say something else when a hand rested on her shoulder. She looked back- it was Rainbow Dash. Rainbow shook her head wordlessly, before she looked back and beckoned to the others.

As soon as everyone had gathered around her, Rainbow said bluntly, "I don't like this."

"No kiddin'. Ah thought the portal was still closed," Applejack added.

"It is," Sunset replied, "and it won't open for another fourteen moons."

Fluttershy stuttered, "…Do you think she had something to do with that… _monster?_"

"No way," Sunset replied. "I mean, it doesn't make sense. Why would they make a monster attack us, and then turn around and kill it?"

"Well duh!" Rainbow whispered harshly. "They're trying to lead us into a false sense of security!"

Rarity looked to Rainbow. "Rainbow Dash, you're being far too paranoid about this." She then looked to Pinkie and said, "You've been awfully quiet, Pinkie. What do you think of all this?"

Pinkie wordlessly rubbed her chin in thought, before she snapped her fingers as though she'd had a sudden realization. "What if this is the Twilight from this world?" she asked.

Applejack looked to Pinkie. "Huh?"

"Think about it. Twilight said her world had counterparts for all of us. So what if the opposite is true? What if this Twilight is our world's counterpart for that Twilight?"

Applejack merely raised her eyebrow and repeated, "…Huh?"

Fluttershy asked, "You really think so, Pinkie?"

"You have to admit, it certainly isn't impossible," Rarity replied.

Sunset had to admit, Rarity _did_ have a point. It _wasn't_ impossible that a Twilight Sparkle could exist in this world as well, residing in some distant region she'd yet to visit.

"I s'pose it ain't," Applejack said in agreement. "'Sides, the first Spike we met was a dog, wasn't he?"

"Why don't we just hear her out?" Sunset asked. "Once we find out what she wants, we'll decide what to do then."

The others agreed with Sunset's idea… save Rainbow Dash. "Well I still don't like this…" she said glumly.

"Come now, Rainbow Dash," Rarity admonished, "You're overreacting."

The six broke their huddle and looked over to Twilight. "You were right," Sunset said. "We confused you with someone else we know."

"But why are you here?" Rarity asked. "And what do you want with us?"

"And why did you call Sunset a 'catalyst?'" Pinkie added.

Before Twilight could answer, the sound of approaching sirens met their ears. "…Maybe we should talk somewhere else," Fluttershy said.

"Agreed," Sunset replied. "Let's head back to the school. We can talk there."

But Pinkie stopped them. "Hold on just a sec." She reached into her pocket and tossed a roll of bills onto the counter. "There you go, Snips! Sorry about the diner!" She then climbed through the hole, saying to her friends, "Okay. Let's go."

As the group left the diner, Snips replied, "Yeah um… no, no problem… Pinkie."

* * *

A few minutes later, the eight were in front of Canterlot High. A few police cars had passed them as they made their way to the school, but seemingly found nothing suspicious about them, since they continued on their way. "Well here we are," Applejack said. "Now Ah believe ya were just about to explain what y'all were doing here."

"Wait wait _wait!_" Pinkie shouted, stepping into the middle of the group. "Sorry. But it's just that we've gotten this far, and we haven't even introduced ourselves yet." She pointed to herself. "I'm Pinkie Pie." She then pointed to each of the others. "That's Applejack, Fluttershy, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity." She looked to Twilight. "Okay, you can keep going."

Twilight looked at Pinkie for several moments in annoyance, before she said, "I have spent the last several months studying numerous abnormal phenomena that have manifested across the globe over the past year. I have traced these various phenomena to their point of origin, and they have all led me here, to this nation, to this city…" She pointed to Sunset. "…to _you_."

"O… kay…" Rainbow said slowly. "…So what?"

Twilight's jaw dropped slightly, seemingly in disbelief. "…You have absolutely no idea what your actions have unleashed upon the world, do you?"

Sunset crossed her arms over her chest. "Should I?"

Twilight held up her hand. "Yes. You should."

Twilight then snapped her fingers- immediately, flames erupted around her hand.

The others gasped- even Sunset Shimmer's eyes widened in surprise. She was no stranger to using magic, but it was the first time Sunset had ever seen one of this world's inhabitants use it. At least, since over a year and a half ago.

"What you see is no trick, no illusion," Twilight said. "It is _magic._ _Real_ magic, returned to our world after an absence millennia long."

"Wait, _returned?_" Rainbow said, incredulous. "That's impossible! Our world's _never_ had magic!"

"Oh, but it did," Twilight replied. "There is evidence demonstrating that this world was once saturated with magical energies. But approximately three thousand years ago, the magic simply… _vanished_." She clenched her hand into a fist, extinguishing the flames. "…sealed away by the sages of old, if the legends are to be believed. And now, after all this time, it has reappeared. But make no mistake- the return of magic is _not_ a natural phenomenon. I do not know how, nor for what purpose, but whether unintended or deliberate, I know that the return of magic has come through human action."

Sunset and the others were silent for several moments, before Fluttershy finally said, "…I think we might know what 'human action' brought magic back."

Twilight looked to her, surprised. "Do you?" She held out a hand invitingly. "Then by all means. Share what you know."

The group looked to each other briefly, before Applejack said, "Ya might wanna sit down for this one."

Twilight sat, as did the others. And after a moment, Sunset began to tell Twilight everything that had happened. How she had initially discovered the human world after passing through a magic mirror, and how she'd quickly established herself at the top of Canterlot High's pecking order. How when thirty moons had passed, she returned to her original world and stole a powerful magical artifact- the Element of Magic- and how its owner, Twilight Sparkle, followed her in order to retrieve it. How she used the Element's power to transform herself into a monstrous demon, hypnotize the students of Canterlot High, and nearly kill Twilight and the others. And how Twilight and the others had used their own magic- the magic of friendship- to defeat Sunset. And, she told how Twilight had taken back the Element of Magic, and returned to her world.

Twilight sat in silence, her hand on her chin. "Hmm… and when exactly did this conflict take place?"

"It would have been… nearly seventeen moons ago," Rarity replied.

Twilight rose to her feet. "I see. Around that same time, cities across my homeland suffered electrical overloads and blackouts. No doubt they were caused by the magics unleashed during your conflict."

"Alright, so we know who you are, and why you came here," Sunset said. "But what does all of this have to do with us?"

Twilight replied, "Simple: _You_ are the cause of all of this. Thus, you will aid me in setting things right."

"Hey, hold on!" Rainbow shouted. "You can't just come here and dump this on us! …Well, I guess it _is_ kinda Sunset's fault, but the rest of us had nothing to do with it!" Sunset immediately shot a dirty look at Rainbow.

Twilight crossed her arms and gave Rainbow a hard glare. "I am not 'dumping' anything on you, as you put it. And blame is irrelevant. I require assistance in my mission, and thus am requesting it from you." She looked back, in the direction of the diner- the faint sounds of sirens could still be heard floating over the buildings. "You saw that chimera with your own eyes, did you not?" She looked back to Rainbow. "Mutations such as those have been occurring almost from the moment magic reemerged. And the situation will only continue to worsen. If the levels of magic are allowed to rise unregulated, they will begin to mutate humans, and eventually destabilize the world itself." She looked to Spike. "Spike? The map please."

Spike pulled out a rolled paper from inside his armor as he approached, and laid it out on the ground in front of everyone. On its surface was drawn a map of the world, covered in various multicolored lines, circles, and other shapes.

Twilight tapped her finger on the map. "Ever since my abilities first manifested, I have studied all the documents pertaining to magic that I could find. From my research, I have learned that in ancient times, there were four locations which play some sort of role in directing the flow of the world's magical energies. Their exact locations have been lost to time, but I-"

"Just a moment, if you would," Rarity interrupted. "What exactly will happen when the world _destabilizes?_"

"I cannot say with any certainty _what_ will happen if the world reaches that point. What I _can_ say is that whatever event take place, it will result in the death of every living thing on this planet. Now as I was saying, these locations-"

But Twilight was interrupted again, this time by Fluttershy: "Um, excuse me? How much time do we have before the world is… you know."

"I cannot give an exact estimate. But if we were to simply do nothing, and taking into account the damage that has been done thus far… then the world will be utterly destroyed in less than a year. Now-"

"Then what're we wasting time fer?" Applejack said frantically. "We need ta get the hell outta here! Sunset, d'ya think-"

"_Calm yourself._" Twilight ordered. "The destabilization will slow as each site resumes regulating the world's magic currents. But unless all four are activated, this will merely delay the inevitable."

Twilight looked to the others, agitation evident on her face, as if waiting for another interruption. But there was none.

So she continued, "...Now as I was saying, the exact locations of these four sites have been lost to time, but through my research, I've narrowed down a number of potential locations. From this city, Canterlot, the first is far to the north, within the ruins of the Crystal Empire. The second is to the southeast, near the Griffon Islands. The third is to the south, beyond the Zebra Nation and somewhere in the vicinity of the Cape of Storms. And the last is to the far west, somewhere in the Long Zhao Mountain Range in the Land of Fire, across the Ceres Ocean." As she spoke, Twilight's hand glided over the map, tracing lines to each location, which were marked by a red circle.

"Those places seem awfully specific," Rainbow Dash said, narrowing her eyes.

"I have taken dozens of other potential locations into consideration." Twilight pointed to several other circles scattered across the map. "And from information I have gathered in my research, I have concluded that the four previously mentioned locations have the highest probability of containing a magic site." Twilight began rolling up the map.

At that moment, Pinkie leapt forward. "_Alright!_" she cheered. She then cleared her throat and said calmly, "Everyone, please line up in an orderly fashion so I can give you your gear in a timely manner."

"Gear? Wait, you planned for something like this?" Rainbow asked.

"An adventure all around the world with monsters and magic? Are you kidding? I made costumes for everyone!" Pinkie dropped her backpack on the ground and opened it. "I've been carrying around all this stuff for five months. It was killing my back, but today makes it all worth it!" She reached inside. "Okay Sunset, you're up first! And after what happened at the Fall Formal, I knew there was only one job for you- Red Mage!"

Pinkie pulled something out of her bag and dashed towards Sunset- a moment later, Sunset was suddenly wearing a long red cloak, a black undershirt, white pants, boots, and a red hat with a feather in it. Sunset looked down at her new attire, stunned. "What the- how did you even do that!?"

"Oh you'll need this, too!" Pinkie continued, and pushed a sheathed sword into Sunset's hands. Sunset could only look down at the blade in stunned silence as Pinkie moved on.

"I have to admit, I wasn't sure who else would get magic- so I made sure the White Mage robe would fit everyone. And it looks like Fluttershy is the one who gets to wear it!" Pinkie pulled a long swath of cloth from her bag and sprinted to Fluttershy- Fluttershy yelped, and in an instant was wearing a hooded white robe lined with red triangles. "You get to keep this, too." Pinkie then gave Fluttershy a carved wooden staff.

"Um, thank… you?" Fluttershy replied, unsure of how to respond.

Pinkie returned to her bag. "Figuring out your job was actually the toughest part, Rainbow Dash. But after _reeeeally_ thinking about it, I figured it out: you're the fastest runner out of all of us. Which makes you the perfect Thief!" She ran towards Rainbow, holding a green bundle close to her chest…

But she skidded to a stop when Rainbow said, "Just… hand it to me."

Pinkie did as Rainbow asked, and handed her the bundle. "Here you go!" Rainbow unrolled it, revealing a white shirt, green athletic shorts, and a dark green bandanna. "Oh, you're gonna need this too." Pinkie then held out a very strange object to Rainbow- it looked like a wheel the size of a large dinner plate, lined with blades, and with a cross-shaped handle on the inside.

Rainbow took the object, albeit reluctantly. "Uh, Pinkie? Should you really be handing out deadly weapons to all of us?"

"The world outside of this city is not as kind as you may believe it to be," Twilight said. "You _will_ need means to protect yourself."

Pinkie skipped over to Applejack. "Applejack, you told me once that you knew your way around guns. So I knew that Gunner was the only job for you. So I got you these!" She handed Applejack a rolled bundle, smiling broadly.

Applejack unrolled the bundle, revealing it to be a long, dark brown duster coat, a pair of long black pants, and a pair of holsters. It was exactly the sort of outfit that would be right at home in a cowboy movie. She looked at the outfit with disapproval. "Yeah… I ain't wearin' this." She began rolling up the outfit, mumbling to herself, "…Ah will take those pants, though…"

"Oh, you'll need these, too." Pinkie held out a pair of guns toward Applejack, grip-first- a boxy black semiautomatic pistol, and a dull grey revolver.

Applejack took the guns. "Sugarcube, Ah'm not even gonna ask how ya…" She trailed off, amd looked at the revolver more closely. "…Wait a second… this one's mine!" She looked to Pinkie. "Pinkie, did ya take this from mah house?"

"No way! It's the same kind as the one you showed me over Winter Break, but it's a different gun, I promise!" She then continued as if nothing had happened, saying, "I wasn't sure if you liked semiautomatics or revolvers more, so I got you one of each!"

"Um… thanks…" Applejack said. She began inspecting the guns as Pinkie turned away, saying to herself. "…well at least they weren't loaded."

Finally, Pinkie approached Rarity. "Hey Rarity, remember freshmen year when you told me you were taking martial arts? Because _I_ do!" She reached into her bag. "So there was only one job for you- Monk!" She then handed Rarity a light blue gi with navy trim, before she skipped away.

"Pinkie, dear…" Rarity began, as she looked at the gi with a slight touch of disapproval. "I don't mean to… _question_ your methods, but where's _my_ weapon?"

Pinkie turned and smiled cheerfully at her. "Monks don't use weapons, silly! They fight with their bare hands!" She quickly added, "And sometimes knuckles, but I don't have any of those."

Rarity looked at Pinkie in disbelief, before looking down at her own hands. "My… _bare hands?_"

"Wait, why're you the only one who doesn't hafta wear a goofy costume?" Applejack asked. "What the heck are ya supposed to be anyway?"

"Easy. I'm..." Pinkie pulled off her clothes to reveal... the exact same outfit underneath. "…the Mime!"

Rainbow looked at the others, and after a moment of thought exclaimed, "Hey wait a minute, I recognize all this stuff! This is from that game you showed me!"

"That's right!" Pinkie replied excitedly, as she tied her first skirt around her neck to make a sort-of cloak. "Isn't it neat?"

"Are you quite finished?" Twilight said impatiently. "The fate of our world hangs in the balance, and you choose to waste time with these frivolities. Now, if there are no more interruptions-"

"Now hold on just a minute," Applejack interrputed.

"_**What is it!?**_" Twilight snapped, making everyone- Spike included- jump in surprise.

Applejack continued reluctantly, "Uh… ya see that statue over there?" She pointed to the statue in front of the school. "That statue ain't just an ordinary statue. It's a portal to another world. Sunset Shimmer's world."

"The portal is closed right now," Rarity continued, "but after thirty moons- well, _fourteen_ presently- the portal will reopen. But it'll only be open for a short time- three days to be precise. After that, it'll close, and Sunset Shimmer will have to wait another thirty moons for it to open again."

Twilight's anger faded, to be replaced by seemingly genuine surprise. "Is that so? May I examine it?"

All eyes fell on Sunset. She hesitated for several moments, before she reluctantly answered, "…go ahead."

Sunset watched as Twilight approached the statue, tensing up as Twilight reached toward the slate. But Twilight merely rested her hand against its surface and closed her eyes, as if concentrating. She then pulled her hand away, and looked to the group. "The concentration of magic at the base of this statue is abnormally high. This suggests the statue _is_ indeed a magical artifact of great potency."

Twilight returned to the group. "The full moon is tonight- this means there are only thirteen moons between now and when this portal opens. Having taken this new information in consideration, I believe the best course of action would be to divide our current group into four pairs. Each pair will then venture to one of the four sites independently, and activate it. You may decide amongst yourselves both your travelling partner, and your destination." Twilight looked to the road. "Afterwards, we must be on our way."

"Now hold on," Applejack said. "We hafta leave, _right_ _now?_"

Twilight looked to her. "Yes. We cannot afford to waste even a second. We must leave, _now._"

"Okay listen," Rainbow began. "I'm not gonna lie- I still don't trust you. But that _thing_ back at the diner was real enough, and that tells me we need to do something. So we'll help you out with whatever it is you want us to do, but you gotta give us time first."

Twilight crossed her arms and asked, "Time to do what?"

"To pack supplies!" Rainbow responded, incredulous. "To map out where we're going! To say goodbye to our families!"

"Journeying halfway around the world isn't business that can be done at the drop of a hat, you know," Rarity added.

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but was stopped when Spike rested a hand on her shoulder. "They do have a point, Twilight," he said. "Not to mention, we need to restock our own supplies."

Twilight looked at Spike, before returning her attention to the others. "…Very well. We will reconvene here at noon. Do _not_ be late."

* * *

Twelve chimes rang out over Canterlot. The sun was high overhead, and the mist of the morning had long since been driven away.

Sunset and Rainbow walked down the sidewalk leading back to Canterlot High. Their packs were laden with supplies for the journey ahead. For a few moments, the two girls simply walked in silence, until Rainbow said, "I can't believe you're still wearing that thing."

"What's wrong with it?" Sunset asked in reply. "Sure, the hat was a bit much, but it's comfortable, and it beats having to fight monsters in a skirt."

Rainbow adjusted her pack. "Yeah, fighting in a skirt's a real pain in the ass."

"And yet you're still wearing one."

Rainbow lightly punched Sunset in the arm. "Oh shut up, you." The two finally reached the school, passing by the sign out front. Only a few hours prior, the sign had read, "Have a Great Spring Break!" Now, it said:

"Closed Indefinitely for the Foreseeable Future."

Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were already waiting in front of the school statue. Fluttershy was still wearing the robe Pinkie had given her, while Applejack had traded her skirt for her black pants; Rarity's outfit remained unchanged. "Hello darlings," Rarity said. "Did you happen to see Twilight and Spike out there?"

"We didn't, sorry," Sunset replied.

"Hey guys, can I say something?" Rainbow asked. "And can it stay between us?"

"What is it, Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked.

"Aren't you weirded out by all of this?"

Applejack asked, "What, with Twilight and Spike showin' up?"

"Yeah! I mean, don't you think it's a little too convenient? First, we get attacked, then they come and save us. And then they explain everything that's going on, and what we need to do to fix it. You don't think all that's suspicious? Not even a little bit?"

Before anyone could answer, Pinkie's cry of "_I'm back!_" filled the air. She ran up to the others, smiling broadly, but her smile rapidly faded as she looked upon her friends. "Aw man," Pinkie said, slumping over. "It took me forever to make all those costumes and you're not even wearing them!"

"Uh… green isn't really my color, Pinkie," Rainbow replied sheepishly.

"I'll… change when we're on the road," Rarity replied, her tone unconvincing.

"I'm wearing mine," Fluttershy said, trying to cheer Pinkie up.

"Ah'm wearin… half," Applejack said. "That counts fer somethin', right?"

"Excellent, you're all here," the group heard Twilight say. She approached the group, followed by Spike. "Now, we still have the matter of deciding each of our destinations. The four are-"

"We know what they are," Rainbow interrupted. "The Crystal Empire, the Griffon Islands, the Cape of Storms, and the Land of Fire."

"So you do. In that case, I choose to venture to the most inhospitable of the four sites- the ruins of the Crystal Empire."

"I'll go with you," Spike replied.

But Twilight's response was a flat "No, you will not."

Spike looked up at her, surprised. "What? But Twilight-"

"You know as well as I do that I am perfectly capable of defending myself. But there are others in this group who require your skills more than I."

Spike was silent for a moment. "…Alright, I guess I'll head east, then. Even without the monsters, the Land of Fire is supposed to be one of the most dangerous regions in the world."

"Hey Twilight, since Spike can't go with you, can _I_ go with you?" Pinkie asked, beaming. "I've always wanted to go up to the north pole." In the background, Rainbow called, "Pinkie, there's nothing at the north pole. We talked about this."

Twilight brought her hand to her chin and was silent for several moments, in deep thought. Pinkie's smile slowly faded, until Twilight said, "…You may."

"I'll go to the Griffon Islands," Sunset said as Pinkie cheered excitedly. "I've always wanted to go, but I never got the chance to back home."

"I'll go with you," Rainbow said. "I went there once a long time ago. Maybe I can show you around."

Applejack looked to Rarity and Fluttershy. "…Well, Ah guess that leaves us with either the Land of Fire or the Cape of Storms." She added, "Personally, Ah'm partial to the Cape of Storms. I got some family down near the southern border- maybe they could help us out."

"I don't know…" Fluttershy said. "Both of those places sound awfully dangerous."

"Well, in either case, Ponyville is just a few miles southeast of Canterlot," Rarity said. "Perhaps we should make a stop there before finalizing any decisions."

Twilight replied, "Fair enough. But I recommend you not spend too much time dwelling on your decision. We have precious little of it." She adjusted her pack. "Now that everyone has their destinations, let us be off."

"One moment please," Rarity interrupted. "Suppose we do split up and reach one of these… _sites_. If we find that there's nothing there, and with all of us are scattered to four corners of the globe, how are we supposed to contact you?"

Twilight looked to Rarity, crossing her arms. "I was under the impression that the vast majority of individuals within your particular age group owned a cellular telephone."

Rainbow pulled out her cellphone. "Okay. So why don't we swap numbers, and we'll all head out."

"Very well." Twilight pulled out a cellphone from her bag- she looked down at it for several moments, before she said, "Spike? Assistance please."

Spike looked over her shoulder. "Dial pound-100. Then push the green button."

"…which is the pound button?"

"The one that looks like a number sign."

Twilight dialed the numbers, and held out her phone. "This is my telephone number." The others crowded around Twilight's phone, trying to read her number on the small screen. "Spike, show them yours, please."

Spike complied, and held out his phone for the others to see. After a flurry of clicking buttons, Sunset said, "Alright. We'll all call both of you later today. It'll be faster than for us to try and give you our numbers one at a time."

"Fair enough," Twilight replied as she put her phone away.

For a few moments afterward, the pairs simply looked at one another: Twilight and Pinkie; Sunset and Rainbow; and Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike, and Rarity. Eventually, Rainbow said, "Okay guys… I guess this is it."

"Be safe everyone!" Twilight said cheerfully.

"Guys?" Applejack asked. "Ah want ya ta promise me something. Promise me that when these thirteen moons are up, we're all gonna come back to this spot, and we're all gonna come back alive." She held out her hand. "Okay?"

Sunset reached out, and rested her hand on top of Applejack's. "Don't worry. We'll all make it."

Then, one by one, each of Sunset's friends wordlessly put their hand on top of Sunset's. The girls held their circle for several moments… before their hands fell away. Then, slowly, the eight turned, and began to go their separate ways.


	3. III: Beginnings, Part II

**Chapter III: Beginnings, Part II**

"…So Rainbow, how do we get to the Griffon Islands from here?" Sunset Shimmer asked. She and Rainbow walked east along the street, in the opposite direction of Canterlot High's front entrance.

"You got me," Rainbow replied. "But the Griffon Islands are in the south Auroran Ocean. So if I had to guess, I'd say our best shot is to hop on a boat in Manehattan and sail south."

"A boat? Why not take a plane?"

"Haven't you been listening to the news? They say that planes that fly too high get hit with some kind of radio interference. And they said it's happening all over the world." Rainbow looked to Sunset. "Hey, you think magic has something to do with it?"

"Could be…" Sunset had a sudden thought. "…but wait. If this interference is blocking radio waves, then how are cellphone signals still going through?"

Rainbow merely shrugged her shoulders. Then she said, "By the way…" before she pulled the bladed wheel from her back and held it out. "Do you have any idea what this is?" She turned the object over in her hand several times. "I can't even figure out how to hold this stupid thing."

Sunset leaned in to have a better look. "You know, it looks like one of those… ninja things."

Rainbow looked to Sunset, raising an eyebrow. "_Ninja things?_"

"You know… they're star-shaped, you're supposed to throw them…"

"You mean a 'shuriken?'" She held the object out. "Well, it does kinda look like one…" She pulled her arm back. "Couldn't hurt to try."

Rainbow threw the shuriken with all of her strength. It flew through the air a short distance, made a hard bank… and began to fly directly toward Rainbow Dash.

"_Whoa look out!_" Rainbow and Sunset ducked- the shuriken sailed over their heads, and lodged itself deep into a nearby streetlamp.

Rainbow slowly stood up, and approached the streetlamp. "Gee thanks, Pinkie. Give me the one weapon that can kill me as well as the bad guys." She took hold of the shuriken, and wrenched it free after several pulls. "What, did the weapon store run out of swords?" Rainbow then looked at her and Sunset's surroundings. "And where the heck are we anyway?" The two were surrounded by tall buildings, none of which Rainbow could identify.

Sunset looked around as well, and after a moment replied, "Downtown."

"Really? I've been to Downtown lots of times, but I don't remember anywhere like this."

"We're close to the Canterlot Gardens, by the Senate House."

"Oh. I've never been to that part of Downtown."

It was at that moment that a shrill scream pierced the air. Both Rainbow and Sunset looked down the street, the direction that the scream had come from. "You hear that?" Rainbow asked.

"I did," Sunset replied. "Let's go check it out."

"Wait, what?" Rainbow said, stunned. "But what if it's another one of those monsters? You really think we can take 'em on our own?"

Sunset looked to Rainbow. "Backing down from a fight, Rainbow Dash? That's not like you."

Rainbow hesitated for several moments, before she replied, "…You're right. Normally, I'd never back down from a fight. But busting up punks is one thing- _this_ is on a whole other level."

Sunset sighed. "Look, we're probably gonna be running into a lot of monsters between here and Manehattan. We need to get used to fighting them now, or we'll end up regretting it later." She turned, and looked back at Rainbow over her shoulder. "But look on the bright side-you can get some practice using that thing." With that, Sunset took off, running down the road in the direction of the scream.

Rainbow watched Sunset for a moment, before she shook her head and chased after her friend, saying to herself, "…man, I've gotta be outta my mind."

The air soon filled with the sound of people panicking and running. As Sunset and Rainbow ran down the street, numerous other people ran past them, heading the opposite direction. Oozing down the street behind them a short distance away was a short blue blob, not much taller than a child.

"Is that it? Is that what everyone's running from?" Rainbow asked. "He doesn't look so tough."

Sunset drew her sword. "You should be more careful. In my world there're lots of things that _look_ harmless, but are actually _very_ dangerous."

"Oh please! He's just some weird blob thing. What can he do?"

The blob shuddered, and a bright light began to shine from within its body. It then opened its mouth, and fired a bullet of water from its gullet- the bullet struck Rainbow in the shoulder, making her stumble back.

Rainbow clutched her shoulder. "_**Ow!**_ _That actually really hurt!_"

"Told you. Now let me show you how it's done." She charged, pulling back her sword, and swung it at the blob with all her might. The blade sank into the blob's… _flesh_…

But the blob flexed, and forced out Sunset's sword, leaving behind no trace of her attack- not even a scratch. Then it reached back, it short, stubby arms extending several feet, and slapped Sunset, knocking her off her feet. Slowly, she rose to her feet, and said, "Well, this might be tougher than I thought."

"Now what do we do?" Rainbow asked. "Hitting him doesn't work…" Then suddenly, she exclaimed, "Wait, no! I remember! You have to hit it with a lightning spell!"

Sunset looked over. "What? Rainbow, that's-"

"_Just do it!_"

"Alright, alright!" Sunset thrust out her free hand; a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and struck the blob. It shuddered and wobbled, before it fell back and collapsed into a formless puddle of goo. Sunset and Rainbow waited for a moment, but the goo puddle remained motionless.

Slowly, Sunset approached the puddle. "…Did we get it?" She prodded the puddle with her sword, but received no response.

"Well, he isn't moving, so…yeah, I guess so," Rainbow replied.

Sunset sheathed her sword. "How did you know that would work?"

"What?"

"That using a lightning spell would kill that monster?"

Rainbow scratched her head nervously and looked away. "Oh, it was… from these games Pinkie showed me once. That monster looked like one of the ones in the games, so I thought the same strategy might work on it."

"…What else can you tell me about those games?" Sunset asked as she resumed walking down the road.

Rainbow caught up to Sunset. "Well, what do you wanna know about 'em?"

"Anything you think might help."

"Okay…" Rainbow rested a hand on her chin as she thought for several moments. "Certain monsters in the games have elemental affinities. If they're hit by an elemental attack that's the same as their affinity, it heals them, but if they're hit by an opposing element type, it does extra damage."

"How many elements are there?"

"It depends on the game. But the most common elements are fire and ice, lightning and water, earth and wind, and light and darkness. And each of those pairs is usually opposed to each other…"

* * *

Around that same time, Fluttershy, Spike, Applejack, and Rarity were leaving the Canterlot city limits. The suburban sprawl of the city's outskirts had given way to gently rolling hills and fields, occasionally broken up by a cluster of trees or the odd house. The group itself walked along a narrow road leading to the southeast, discussing Twilight as they went.

"…Twilight certainly seemed to have a great deal of trouble with her cellphone," Rarity said. "It was almost as if she had no idea how it worked."

"Ah saw," Applejack replied. "And did ya see? It was one of 'em old brick phones. Ah didn't even know they still made those!" She looked to Spike, who was at the front of the group. "Hey Spike, do they not have cellphones where you're from?"

Spike looked back. "We have them. Twilight's just never been interested in owning one. In fact, she only got hers just before we came here."

"Where are you from?" Fluttershy asked.

"Far away," he answered.

"Well yeah, we gathered that." Applejack said. "But where, specifically?"

Spike was silent for a moment, as though carefully considering his response. "…Albion. To the east, across the Auroran Ocean."

"You're from Albion?" Fluttershy said. "You don't sound like it…"

"Not everyone from Albion has the Trottingham or Canterbury accents, you know…"

Rarity no longer listened to the others' conversation as she watched Spike in silence. There was something about him she found… well, 'unnatural' was a bit too strong, but she would have been lying if she said that she didn't find something _peculiar_ about him. But she couldn't say _what _precisely. Perhaps-

"You can tell, can't you?" Spike said to her suddenly.

Rarity jolted in surprise- Spike was staring directly at her. She took a moment to collect herself, and asked in turn, "Tell what?"

"That I'm not human."

Rarity blinked in confusion. "You're... not... human?"

Spike nodded. "That's right. I'm entirely, anyway." He lifted up his helmet slightly, exposing his eyes for the first time. Rarity gasped. Fluttershy covered her mouth and stepped back. Applejack let out a stunned "Whoa…"

Spike's eyes were a vibrant, near-luminescent, distinctly _inhuman_ green, evenly divided by a long, slit-like pupil. Spike hid his eyes once again and continued, "I'm a dragonling."

Fluttershy stuttered, "A… dragonling?"

Spike continued down the road- the others followed. "It used to refer to the direct offspring of a human and a dragon. Nowadays, a dragonling is anyone who has a dragon somewhere in their lineage. Or at least, anyone who shows obvious signs of it."

"A... dragon?" Applejack stammered. "But... dragons are huge! How... how would..."

"Twilight thinks that dragons were very skilled magic-users when they were still alive. So casting a spell to change into a human form would've been easy for them."

"So… is it just the eyes, then?" Rarity asked.

"No, there are other characteristics- increased muscle mass, higher bone density, sharper facial features... if the dragon blood is especially strong, some people even grow horns or scales. But the eyes are usually the most visible trait."

Applejack called back, "Hey Fluttershy, ya listenin' ta this? This guy's half dragon!" She received no answer. So she looked back. "Shy?"

Fluttershy had stopped, and was kneeling down in front of a large bush next to the path a few yards back. "I'll go get her," Rarity said, and began to walk towards her friend.

As she approached, Rarity could hear Fluttershy speaking, presumably to whatever was in the bush: "Why don't you come out? I have food. If you're hurt, I can help you feel better." But the creature in the bush, assuming there was one, did not emerge.

Once she was close enough, Rarity leaned over Fluttershy's shoulder and looked into the bush as well. "What're you looking at?" she asked.

"I think there's an animal in this bush, but he won't come out," Fluttershy replied. She leaned closer to the bush. "Come on now. I won't hurt you. I promise." The bush rustled. "That's it. Just a little more."

The bush rustled a little more vigorously, and an angry hiss sounded from within. Then, a huge _thing_ as black as night leapt out towards Fluttershy.

She screamed.

Rarity was the first to react- she pushed Fluttershy away, pulled back her fist, and sucker-punched the object away. She had no idea what the blur was, but she doubted anything that moved that quickly at someone had good intentions.

Applejack and Spike rushed over. "What just happened?" she asked.

"I _think_ I just punched a giant spider in the face," Rarity said incredulously. She looked to where the thing had landed- she could see that it was indeed a spider, roughly the size of a small dog, righting itself. It may not have been _giant_, but Rarity thought it was certainly larger than a spider had any right to be.

But unfortunately it wasn't alone: a rabid dog leapt from the underbrush on the other side of the path, and a large black condor swooped down from three creatures wasted no time in surrounding the party.

Applejack drew her guns. "Fluttershy, stay behind us!"

"So they've made it this far already…" Spike said as he pulled the spear from his back.

"You're not going to hurt them, are you?" Fluttershy asked.

"We may not have a choice in the matter," Rarity replied.

The spider hissed and leapt at Fluttershy again, but Rarity again intercepted it with a devastating punch. A foul-smelling yellowish bile burst forth from the spider and splattered against Rarity's fist as her blow crushed its body with ease. It flew through the air and hit the ground, but it did not rise again. Disgusted, she shook the bile off her hand, muttering, "_Eugh…_"

The rabid dog leapt at Spike- he held out his spear, catching its shaft between the dog's jaws. The dog pushed against the spear, snarling furiously, but Spike was stronger, and with a mighty push he forced the dog back; then he swung with all his might, and cut down the dog with ease.

But Applejack was less successful in shooting down the feral bird- she fired shot after shot from the semiauto, but somehow the bird evaded every last one. Then, it dived at her, leaving a deep gash in her arm as it passed- she cried out in pain, and glared at the bird. "Yer tryin' mah patience, ya varmint!" she shouted. She brought up her trusty revolver and took careful aim, oblivious to the bright red light that shone from within its barrel. Then, she pulled the trigger.

A bullet wreathed in flames emerged from her revolver, striking the condor dead center. The bird screeched in pain, before falling to the ground, dead.

Applejack looked at the dead, slightly smoldering condor lying on the ground in front of her. She looked at her revolver, and then back to the bird, unsure if what she saw had actually happened.

Eventually, Rarity asked. "Did anyone else see that?"

"What, ya mean the flamin' bullet that just came outta mah gun?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah…" Rarity- and the others- fell silent for a moment, until she noticed the blood dripping down Applejack's arm. She rushed over. "Applejack dear, you're hurt!"

"Wha?" Applejack then looked down at her arm. "Oh this? It's just a scrape. Nothin' ta worry about."

"There's no such thing as a minor injury where monsters are concerned," Spike said. He looked back. "Fluttershy. Do you think you can tend to her wound?"

"Oh…" Fluttershy replied nervously. "I don't know if I can. I've helped hurt animals before, but people are-"

Spike rested a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. "It's okay, Fluttershy," he said, as he began to walk her towards Applejack. "You might not know that much about magic, but I do. I can walk you through what you need to do." They stopped just in front of Applejack. "First, place your hand above the wound. But don't touch it."

Fluttershy did as Spike instructed, placing her hand a few inches above Applejack's cut.

"Magic is based primarily on visualization," Spike continued. "You need to form a clear image in your mind of what you want to happen in order to make it so. Close your eyes." Fluttershy did so. "Now imagine that there is a light in the palm of your hand. Imagine that this light is mending Applejack's wound- that it its repairing her arteries, knitting new skin and muscle tissue, replacing the blood that she has lost…"

Applejack and Rarity watched in amazement as a white light began to shine from Fluttershy's hand. But more amazing was what happened to Applejack's wound: slowly, it began to close itself, as though an invisible knife were cutting into her skin, but in reverse. After a moment, the wound closed, leaving behind nothing, no trace that it had ever existed at all.

"Fluttershy…" Rarity began. "That was… incredible! _Stupendous! I've never seen anything like it!_"

Fluttershy's face reddened and she looked away, a small smiler on her lips. But suddenly, she faltered, bringing a hand up to her head. Applejack- who was the closest- moved to catch her, and asked, "Are you alright, sugarcube?"

After Applejack helped her to her feet, Fluttershy replied, "Yes. My head just started hurting, that's all."

"Migraine," Spike said. "Twilight told me once that using magic puts stress on the brain. Using too much over a short time causes pain, impaired mental function, sensory loss… it can even rupture the blood vessels in your brain."

Suddenly, Applejack seized Spike by his collar and pulled him close, glaring. "_And ya didn't think ta tell us all that 'til __**just now?**_ _Fluttershy could've been dead because'a you!_"

Spike gripped Applejack's wrist with surprising firmness. "I'm going to have to ask you to _calm down._ Fighting one another will not solve anything."

There was tense silence as Applejack glared up at Spike. But then a hand rested on top of her wrist. "Everyone, please calm down," Fluttershy said. "I'm okay now. See?" After a moment, Applejack let go of Spike's collar- Spike released her wrist in return.

Spike said to Applejack," The more life-threatening symptoms only develop if someone keeps using magic after the initial pain. And all the symptoms fade if the person doesn't use magic for about a minute or so. …Well, except for the ruptured blood vessels."

Spike then turned to Fluttershy. "It looks like Pinkie Pie was right about you, Fluttershy," he said. "You're a natural with White magic. It's strange, though- it took Twilight weeks until she was able to cast a basic level spell, but _you _seem to have no trouble with it." He then rested a hand on his chin and mumbled, "_Then again, magic concentrations are higher now than they were back then. That might have something to do with it…_" He shook his head. "But anyway, I'd suggest you stick with the basics for now. Trying to cast stronger spells too early can be dangerous."

"Alright, Ah think that's enough lollygaggin'," Applejack said. "Everyone's safe, and all the monsters are dead. We should head out if we wanna reach Ponyville before nightfall."

"Agreed," Rarity replied. And so, the four continued on their way.

But as they walked, Applejack looked to Spike and asked, "Hey Spike, that flamin' bullet Ah shot earlier… that was magic, wasn't it?"

"I think so," Spike replied. "Why?"

"Well, Ah remember back in the diner, when Twilight was checkin' our magic or whatever, Ah didn't get a light like Fluttershy and Sunset did. Shouldn't that mean that Ah can't do any magic?"

Spike was silent for a moment before responding. "I'm not sure. But I'll ask Twilight about it later. She might have an answer. She's the magic expert, after all. Not me."

"But for someone who claims not to be an expert in magic, you seem to know an awful lot about it," Rarity said. "Why is that?"

"Well, I've been helping Twilight study magic ever since she first got her powers. I guess it was inevitable that something would stick."

"And when did she first get her magic?" Fluttershy asked.

"It was…" Spike scratched his head. "…it would be a little over a year now. Twilight was tracking some storms that were moving over the country when she rested her hand on a map and it burst into flames…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and Twilight were travelling through a wooded area to the north of Canterlot. Though the sun was still high overhead, its light could not penetrate the thick blanket of leaves and branches above, leaving the forest floor dark and gloomy. The two walked along a narrow road that wound its way through the tightly packed trees- all the while, Pinkie constantly looked around, as if searching for something.

Finally, Twilight asked in frustration, "What are you looking for?"

Pinkie looked back. "You said there'd be monsters. So where are they?"

"The flow of magic is not as pervasive around Canterlot as it is in other parts of the world. Thus, it has not affected the local wildlife as extensively. But in time, the concentration of magic will rise to a sufficient level as to permit the creation of monsters."

"How can you tell how much magic there is here anyway? Can you smell it?" Pinkie sniffed the air for a few times, before leaning in close to sniff Twilight.

Twilight pushed her away. "Stop that."

It was at that moment that Twilight and Pinkie heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching them. Reaching for their weapons, they turned, just in time to seea boy slow and drop to his knees behind them. He wore a black leather jacket with a single red and white stripe over the chest, and a pair of plain blue jeans. And what's more, the boy was one Pinkie knew…

"Flash?" Pinkie asked. "What're you doing here? And how did you catch up with us so fast?"

"Just a moment!" Flash Sentry gasped. After several moments of deep breathing, he rose to his feet. "I live in Canterlot, you know. So when I heard about what happened at Joe's, I went out to… find… you…" Flash fell silent when his eyes fell on Twilight. He blinked several times, as if unwilling to believe what he was seeing. "I… I can't believe it... It's true! You _are_ back!" Without another word, he ran up and embraced Twilight…

…only for her to immediately push him away. "Release me."

He looked at her, stunned. "…Twilight? I… I thought you'd be happier to see me."

Twilight took off her hat. "I do apologize, but I am not the person that you believe me to be. We have never met before this day."

Flash placed a hand on his chest. "Twilight, it's me. _Flash_. Flash Sentry? From the Fall Formal? I know it's been over a year, but-"

Suddenly, Pinkie grabbed Flash in a headlock and began to pull him away, saying "Oh, hey! Flash! Would you come with me for just a moment?"

Pinkie dragged Flash a few feet away, before he managed to pull himself loose and asked, "Pinkie, what's going on? Why doesn't Twilight recognize me?"

"Flash..." Pinkie told Flash about what had happened at Joe's diner that morning- how the monster had attacked, how Spike had killed it… and how Twilight herself had come. And she told Flash of her theory- that the Twilight with them at that moment was not the Twilight they had first met so long ago, but was the Twilight native to their world.

Flashed looked over to Twilight. "So, that _isn't _Twilight?"

"It _is_." Pinkie replied. "She's just not the Twilight you met two years ago."

"Wait, so… she _is_ Twilight, but she _isn't_ Twilight?" Flash rubbed his temples. "Man, this is making my head hurt."

Twilight interjected, saying, "I am the Twilight Sparkle of this world. It is my understanding that the Twilight Sparkle previously encountered by your group was a denizen from another world. Does that clarify things?"

Flash scratched his head and admitted, "Not really…"

Twilight turned, and began to walk away. "Unfortunately, I do not have time to simplify things further. Pinkie Pie and I have things we must see to."

Flash- and Pinkie- caught up to Twilight. "Wait, what kind of things? Where're you going?"

"Up north," Pinkie replied. "To the ruins of the Crystal Empire."

"That sound kinda dangerous," Flash said. "Do you need any help?"

"Your assistance is not required," Twilight replied flatly. She didn't turn around to look at him. "You should return to your home."

"Hey, I know it might not look like it, but I can handle myself in a fight."

Twilight stopped, and looked back to him. "Can you?" A skittering sound floated from within the forest, and a strange scaled beast with glowing eyes emerged from the trees, hissing at the trio. Flash immediately pushed past Twilight, placing himself between her, Pinkie, and the beast. "You girls stay back," he said. "I'll handle this."

"Flash, are you _crazy!?_" Pinkie said. "You can't take on these monsters by yourself!"

Flash reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a short black handle. "I told you, I can handle myself in a fight." He pushed a switch on the handle's side, and a gleaming blade shot out.

Upon seeing the blade, the scaly beast clicked its teeth in anger and charged at him. Flash charged as well, swinging his switchblade at the beast wildly. But the scaly beast nimbly evaded every one of Flash's swings. Suddenly, the beast snapped its jaws at Flash's chest- the feint caused Flash to stumble back, and lose his grip on his blade. Seeing that its foe was now unarmed, the scaly beast leapt forward and bit down on Flash's arm. He cried out in pain, before he reached back and punched the beast's head, but its skull was as hard as a brick wall, and it refused to release him.

Pinkie and Twilight watched as Flash tried- unsuccessfully- to fight off the beast. Pinkie looked over to Twilight anxiously and said, "Twilight we have to help him."

Twilight stood still, her hand raised, index and middle finger extended. "And we shall."

"There's a monster trying to rip Flash's arm off and all you're doing is standing there!" Pinkie shouted. "You've got a dagger- use it!"

Twilight remained motionless. "I will not allow any serious harm to come to him. You _must _trust me."

"Well if you won't help him, I will! _Flash!_" She set her pack on the ground and opened it. "Take this!"

She reached inside her pack and pulled out a sword that in no way, shape or form should have fit inside it- setting aside the fact that the blade was nearly as wide as the pack itself, the entire sword from tip to pommel was slightly longer than Pinkie was tall. Pinkie threw the massive sword to Flash- it landed, blade-down, just a few feet away.

Flash immediately rushed over and took hold of the sword. He strained, but could only lift it a few inches above the ground. But the monster wasn't going to wait- it was already charging at him once again, his jaws wide. Flash gripped the sword tightly, and with all the strength he could muster, swung the massive sword at the scaly beast.

The blade cleaved the monster in two with ease. The two halves fell to the ground; incredibly, they attempted to drag themselves toward Flash for a few moments, until the lights in the top half's eyes faded, and both halves of the beast fell still.

Flash remained with his sword at the ready for several moments longer, waiting for any more signs of life. When he was convinced the beast was truly dead, he gasped, "There… I got it." He then turned to face Twilight. "You could've helped me out, you know."

Twilight crossed her arms. "Had Pinkie Pie not intervened, _I_ would have. I was simply waiting for a proper opening so as not to harm you with my spells. I assure you, it is not my wish to see you injured."

Flash looked down at the hole torn in his jacket sleeve, at the fresh puncture wounds in his left arm, before holding up his arm for Twilight to see. "You have a funny way of showing it."

"And for that, I apologize." Twilight approached Flash, pulling a long strip of white cloth from her bag. "But do you understand now?" she asked. "The world is not the kind place you believe it to be. Not anymore. Remove your jacket please." Flash did as he was asked, before Twilight took hold of his arm and begun to wrap the cloth over his wound. "It is a hostile, dangerous place now, teeming with monsters who wish nothing more than to see your blood." Twilight finished tying her makeshift bandage. "It is no longer a world for the timid, doubtful the irresolute- such things are weaknesses the beasts prey on."

Twilight then looked Flash in the eye. "If you truly wish to aid us, then I will not stop you. But be warned: once you set foot down this road, you will not be able to turn back. You must see this journey through, no matter what fate may await us at its end. If you have any reservations- any whatsoever- then you should turn away, and return home."

Flash looked over to the dead beast, lying in a rapidly expanding pool of black blood. He then looked down to his bandaged arm- a few red spots were seeping through the pure white cloth. He stared down at his wound in silence- his grip his sword began to loosen, and it seemed as though he was about to drop the weapon and turn back… but then, he tightened his grip on the hilt. "No," he said firmly. "I made my choice when I left Canterlot to come after you." He looked to Twilight. "I'm going with you."

"As you wish." Twilight then pulled a map of Equestria from her bag and set it on the ground between her and Flash. "If we are going to reach the Crystal Empire with any haste, we will need to make as few stops as possible. Originally, Pinkie Pie and I were going to travel directly to Vanhoover before continuing on to the Crystal Empire, but now that…" Twilight stared at Flash for several moments, before asking, "I do apologize, but what was your name again?"

"What? Oh, uh… Flash Sentry."

"Right. Now that Flash Sentry has joined us, we will need to take a brief detour to Cloudsdale for additional supplies. But afterward, our route is unchanged."

"Sounds like a plan, Twilight!" Pinkie said cheerfully.

"Cloudsdale?" Flash asked as he picked up his switchblade. "Isn't that the place with the Equestrian Air Service base?"

"Indeed it is," Twilight replied, folding up the map before she tucked it away. "Since we are all in agreement, let us be off for Cloudsdale." She began to walk away, with Pinkie following.

Flash followed, dragging his new sword behind him, its weight slowing him down considerably. Huffing, he called, "Pinkie, I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but do you have a belt, or a harness, or _something_ so I can carry this thing easier?"

Pinkie looked back. "Sorry Flash, but that was one of my spares. I didn't get anything for it."

"Can you give me a _different_ weapon, then?"

"Sorry, but I need all the ones I still have."

"You have _more?_" Flash asked. "Can I see?"

Pinkie took off her backpack. "Sure. But just look- don't take anything." Then she tossed her bag to Flash.

Flashed opened Pinkie's bag and looked inside. "What the- you got loads of stuff in here! Look at this!" He began pulling items out of Pinkie's bag- in order, he pulled out a spear with a long curved blade, a pair of long knives, a curved sword, and a micro-SMG. "You got spear, knives, a katana, a _gun_, and a…" He held up an L-shaped bit of metal. "…Well I don't know what this thing is. But why couldn't you have given me one of these?"

Pinkie walked up and grabbed the metal thing from Flash's hand. "First of all, I said 'Don't take anything.' Second, this is a boomerang. Third, that isn't a spear- it's a naginata. Fourth, those aren't knives- they're daggers. And fifth, I need all these weapons for a very sophisticated fighting style I developed."

Flash stood up straight. "Oh, I _have_ to see this."

At that very moment, the three heard _something_ crashing through the trees, as though it had been waiting for that exact moment. A moment later, a nearby tree toppled over, revealing a lion with wings and a scorpion's tail. It roared furiously at the trio.

"What the hell is _that?_" Flash shouted. He tried to ready his sword, but could only lift it a few inches off the ground.

Twilight replied, "A manticore," as she drew her dagger. "Strange- the low magic concentration here should not allow for the creation of a monster such as this."

But Pinkie suddenly held out her arm. "Let me handle this."

Twilight sheathed her dagger. "As you wish."

"Alright then…" Pinkie then reached back, and pulled two weapons seemingly from nowhere- her katana in her left hand, and her spear in her right. "_Come on!_"

The manticore charged. Pinkie swung her spear furiously, cutting into the beast's side, before pulling out her gun and hitting it with a spray of bullets. The manticore roared in pain, but before it could strike, Pinkie charged first, slashing it across the face with her dual daggers. The beast stumbled back, before thrusting its stinger at Pinkie- she jumped back and threw her boomerang, which cut a gash into the manticore's tail, before sucker-punching the beast in the face. On its return, the boomerang slashed one of the manticore's legs before Pinkie caught it again.

Gun, knives, spear, fists, spear again… Pinkie was switching between her weapons so quickly that Flash could barely keep track of them. Soon, Pinkie's relentless assault ceased, but the manticore was still standing. "You're tougher than I thought," she said. "Guess I have no choice, then. It's time… _to break my limits!_"

A red surge of light emerged from the ground surrounding Pinkie's feet. Then, Pinkie pulled out her katana and began to spin, very, very fast. The pink whirlwind approached the manticore, sending out sprays of blood as its blades sliced into the beast's flesh. It roared furiously and tried to strike, but each time Pinkie pushed it back. The manticore slowed as its wounds mounted, and it lost more and more of its blood. Eventually, the beast dropped to its knees, let out a weak roar, and collapsed.

Pinkie stopped spinning, and fell to one knee, wiping her brow. "Hoo! I didn't think that would wear me out so much!"

For a moment, all was silent. But then, the manticore was on its feet, and it leapt at Pinkie with a furious roar.

Twilight brought up a hand, and focused.

In an instant, a thick column of stone shot out of the ground and struck the manticore directly in the face. The beast immediately dropped to the ground, before stumbling back onto its feet in a daze.

"The beast is stunned," Twilight said, looking to Flash. "You will never have a more perfect moment to strike."

"Got it!" Flash charged, and hefted the blade over his head…

But the manticore snapped out of its daze and leapt back, evading Flash's attack. Flash couldn't stop his swing, and his sword buried itself deep into the ground. He pulled, but the sword wouldn't come loose. Defenseless, Flash could only watch as the manticore leapt toward him…

But a spurt of blood exploded from its forehead. The beast dropped out of the air, and slid across the ground to Flash's feet. It did not rise again.

"All right!" Pinkie exclaimed, spinning her gun around in her hand before resting it on her shoulder. She then asked, "You okay, Flash?"

Flash pulled again, and the sword finally came loose. "Yeah. I'm good."

"The sword is a weapon of precision and elegance," Twilight said as she approached. "Clearly, whomever designed the sword you wield believed in neither, Flash Sentry."

"It isn't too bad." Flash planted his sword in the ground in front of Twilight. "You wanna take a few swings with it? It's actually kinda fun. Definitely a good workout."

"I believe I shall pass on that offer," Twilight replied.

Flash pulled his sword from the ground, and with some difficulty, rested the flat across his shoulder. "Suit yourself." With that, he began to walk down the road, away from Canterlot and the others.

Twilight looked on after him for several moments. "I fear for him," she said in a low voice. "The boy is soft. He will slow us down."

"Just give him time. He'll toughen up." Pinkie then looked to Twilight. "And what kind of spell was that? Stonera? That's pretty high end for this early in the game."

"I have studied magic for many months now, long before Spike I came to this land," Twilight said flatly as she began to follow Flash. "My skill should not surprise you."

* * *

The sun descended toward the western horizon. Canterlot now lay far behind Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash, who were setting up their camp alongside a highway to the east of the city. With night rapidly approaching, the two had agreed to set up camp, and resume their travels in the morning.

And as the two set up camp Rainbow Dash was still going on about the games Pinkie had shown her: "…Sleep is pretty basic- you fall asleep. Physical attacks wake you up, but magic attacks won't. Last up is Zombie- it causes healing items and spells to hurt you instead of heal you. Most of the time, you need a special item called Holy Water to cure it. And that should cover all the common status ailments. Anything else you wanna know?" Rainbow received no answer. "Sunset?"

Rainbow looked over to Sunset- she was standing a few feet away from their camp, looking out toward the eastern horizon.

"What're you looking at?" Then she saw it. "Oh yeah! Full moon tonight. She approached Sunset, and looked out at the rising moon as well. "Just thirteen more to go, right?"

"Yeah, that's right…" Sunset replied in a low voice.

"Hey, relax! The full moon comes around every… twenty nine days, right? You've still got…" Rainbow began counting on her fingers for a few moments, before pulling out her phone and doing the math on it. "…three hundred seventy-seven days to go! That's over a year!"

"Yeah, well, those three hundred seventy-seven days will be gone before we know it."

"Man why d'you have to be all depressing like that?"

Sunset was silent, as she tried to think of something positive that had come out of their situation. "…Well, it _is_ nice to have magic again," she said. "And being able to see the world isn't so bad. It beats being stuck in Canterlot High all day."

"Now that's more like it!" Rainbow said cheerfully.

**Thirteen moons remain until the portal opens.**


	4. IV: Fortress

**Chapter IV: Fortress**

The next morning came. Rarity was awoken by the shrill sound of her alarm at 7:30, as she was every weekday morning. As she climbed out of her sleeping bag, she looked to the outfit she wore the day before, laid out on the tent floor beside her- it was stiff, crusted with dried blood and various other fluids she wasn't sure she wanted to identify.

In other words, in was in no shape to be worn.

Rarity gingerly folded the outfit, wanting to touch as little of it as she could, and tucked it away in an isolated pocket of her bag, pondering what she should do. She most certainly couldn't go forth in her underwear, but Ponyville was still some distance away, and she didn't think to bring another change of clothes. But then, she remembered something- she still had the martial arts gi Pinkie had given her the day before. She took it out of her bag and looked at it, frowning in disapproval- it was a silly thing, the likes of which she hadn't worn in several years now. But at the moment it was her only option.

A minute later, Rarity tied the gi's belt around her waist, and looked down at herself- the gi clashed horribly with her boots, and the colors were completely wrong for this time of year. "…I can't believe I'm actually going to wear this…" she muttered aloud. She had to admit though, the gi was rather comfortable- she simply had to ask Pinkie what material it was made from.

Rarity emerged from her tent. Only a few feet away, Applejack sat in front of their camp's fire, talking on her cellphone: "…What was that? Twilight is somethin' goin' on over- Twi? Ya there?" Applejack then mumbled, "Darn," and put away her cellphone.

Applejack must have noticed Rarity out of the corner of her eye however, as she turned to face her. "Rarity," she said. "Yer wearin' the thing Pinkie gave ya."

"Well it certainly wasn't by choice," Rarity replied as she too took a seat in front of the fire, a short distance from Applejack. "It sounded like you were talking to Twilight."

"Ah was. Ah was askin' her why mah gun can shoot magic fire bullets."

"And? What did she say?"

"She said it could be a couple a' things. First, she said it could be that someone enchanted mah gun before Pinkie got ahold of it. She also said it could be something called a 'focus.'"

"And what, pray tell, is that?"

Applejack shrugged. "Dunno. There was some kinda commotion and she hung up before she told me what it was."

"A focus is Twilight's term for an artifact that can amplify a person's innate magic abilities," Spike said, as he too emerged from his tent.

"Oh! Spike. You're awake," Rarity said.

"I've been awake for a while." He sat down in front of the fire, on the opposite side from Applejack and Rarity. "Anyway, Twilight told me once that some people have innate magical talent, but they can't use it the way normal spellcasters do. Some can only use their talent in specific circumstances; and for others, they have to channel their abilities through a special artifact first. Twilight called that kind of artifact a focus."

"Is that right?" Applejack asked. She then drew her revolver and held it out to Spike, holding it by the barrel. "Ya think ya can tell me which it is?"

Spike shook his head. "Sorry, but I can't. I can't feel magic the way Twilight does. If _she_ were here, she could tell you." He handed the revolver back to Applejack. "I _can_ tell you this, though- if your revolver's enchanted, it won't shoot anything _other_ than fire bullets. But if it's a focus, it'll respond to your thoughts, and your bullets will have different effects."

Applejack holstered her revolver once more. "Let me guess- somethin' else ya picked up from Twilight?"

Before Spike could respond, there was the sound of a running zipper, and Fluttershy stepped out of her tent. "Good morning everyone," she said.

"Good morning," the others replied, before Spike asked her, "How are you feeling? Have you had any headaches or nosebleeds since yesterday?"

"No…" she replied hesitantly. "…Why do you ask?"

"I'm just want to be sure your magic use isn't having any lingering side effects." The others looked at Spike suspiciously. "…Twilight told me once that using magic can have unexpected side effects in certain people. Most aren't serious, but Twilight asked me to keep an eye out for them for her."

There was silence for a moment, before Applejack stood up. "Well anyway, now that everyone's awake, we should head out. Ah know that we got slowed down when we ran inta that pack a' wild dogs yesterday, but Ponyville's less than a mile away now, so there's no excuse fer not reachin' it before nine."

The four packed up their tents and set out, walking along a road that cut through a sparsely wooded area. Eventually, Spike said, "I've never heard of this… _Ponyville_ before. What can you tell me about it?"

"It's Rarity and Applejack's hometown," Fluttershy replied. "I've only visited a few times, but it seems like a nice town from what I've seen."

"Ponyville might not be as big as some of the other cities in Equestria," Applejack added, "But Ah can guarantee ya won't find a more honest or hardworkin' people as Ponyvillians."

"And perhaps if we're lucky," Rarity began, "some of those people would be willing to help us. Like some of the ranch hands at your farm, Applejack."

Applejack looked back. "Ah wouldn't get yer hopes up too much about that." She then said, "…Ya know, Ah've been thinkin'…"

"About what?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, these weapons Pinkie Pie gave us are pretty high-quality, so Ah'm guessin' she bought 'em, rather than makin' 'em herself."

Fluttershy pulled out her staff and examined it. "I guess that's true…"

"So, if she bought 'em, that means someone sold 'em to her."

Rarity raised an eyebrow at Applejack. "…What are you getting at, dear?"

"Someone sold _these-_" Applejack motioned to her guns. "-to _Pinkie Pie_. _Our_ Pinkie Pie."

"I… see your point." Rarity looked around. "…were there _always_ this many trees on this road into Ponyville?"

At that moment, the trees rustled- everyone instinctively reached for their weapons, but after several moments, nothing emerged. Slowly, the group lowered its guard. "Well isn't this just charming?" Rarity asked sarcastically. "After just a handful of monsters, all of us are jumping at shadows."

"You _should _be jumpy," Spike replied. "Nowadays, even the shadows themselves can be dangerous."

The group resumed walking. But then, without warning, there was a rustling, and a child with red hair emerged from the underbrush. With incredible speed, she ran past the four, but she wasn't fast enough for Applejack to not feel the girl slip her hand into her pocket and pull out her wallet.

"What the- _h-Hey!_" Applejack chased after the child, and the others raced to keep up. The child maneuvered through the trees with near-superhuman agility, but Applejack stayed right on her heels all the while. Applejack reached out, the girl just inches away…

But as she entered a clearing in the trees, Applejack skidded to a stop in the face of the sight before her, forgetting all about the child. After a moment, the others joined her in gawking.

"Whoa," Fluttershy said, stunned. "What happened here?"

Before the group was a wall, roughly twelve feet high, made from sheets of metal, gleaming steel cables, gutted cars… seemingly anything sturdy enough to form a barricade. Behind the wall, they could see the roofs of houses just barely peeking up over the edge.

"Is this Ponyville?" Spike asked. "I have to admit, I thought it would be a little… _nicer_."

"…I assure you…" Rarity began, "it wasn't like this just a few weeks ago."

At that moment the group heard a sound, not unlike the sound of an empty soda can being dropped on the ground. The four looked to its source- sure enough, a light blue can rolled toward them, stopping against the toe of Rarity's boot. Rarity bent down and picked it up, noting its unusual weight, and the numerous tiny holes punched in its surface. "What in the world…?" she began.

Suddenly, the can exploded in a bright light. Rarity's hand burned, her vision went white, and all went silent. She stumbled back, not hearing her own surprised cry, completely oblivious to the fact that the others were doing the same. Suddenly, each of the four felt someone grab them and wrestle them to the ground. As their hearing returned, they could hear numerous people shouting and barking orders to one another.

But all the myriad voices fell silent when another voice, the voice of young girl, began to shout, "Alright you bandits! We caught you!"

Rarity was stunned- a child leading all of these people? But there was _something_ about the child's voice, something that seemed… _familiar_. She struggled to look up- no small feat with people pinning her down- to see someone approaching her. The girl spoke again, her voice now closer: "Hold up just a minute. Let me see this one's face."

The pressure holding Rarity's head down released itself. She looked up, and her jaw dropped when she found herself looking into the face of… Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle seemed just as surprised to see _her. _"…Rarity?" she asked, stunned. She then stood up straight. "It's okay! Let 'em all go!" And in an instant, the arms holding Rarity down released her.

Questions ran through Rarity's mind as she rose to her feet: _Why was Ponyville surrounded by a wall? Were monsters overrunning Ponyville as well? Did they welcome all of Ponyville's visitors like this now?_ But as she got a good look at her little sister, the first one she asked was, "…Why are you wearing Apple Bloom's overalls?"

"For protection," she replied. "She lets me borrow them while I work on my projects." Sweetie Belle then looked back over her shoulder and called, "Isn't that right, Apple Bloom?"

"Yep!" A red-haired girl appeared and leapt down from the top of the wall. She was not much older than Sweetie Belle- in her hair she wore a large pink bow, and more worryingly, a pair of long knives hung from her belt.

"Wait, you're that thief from before!" Spike said.

"Oh, oops." She tossed the wallet back to Applejack. "Sorry. Ah thought you guys were bandits."

Applejack put her hands on her hips and looked down at her sister. "Yer tellin' me that ya can't even recognize yer own sister?"

"It was… dark out!" Apple Bloom stammered.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at her, unconvinced. "Uh-huh…"

"You guys can argue later," Sweetie Belle said. "Right now, we should get inside before any monsters show up." She turned. "Alright, open the gates!"

There was a tremendous groan as the section of wall in front of the group began to swing outward. As the wall opened, the town beyond was exposed, revealing the quaint buildings and narrow streets Applejack and Rarity were familiar with. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom began walking to the open gate- Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike followed, accompanied by their assailants, some of whom the former two recognized.

"Sorry about the welcoming committee," Sweetie Belle said. "But last time we had visitors, they started shooting at everyone as soon as we opened the gate for them."

Once the large group was inside the wall, the gate was pulled closed by a half-dozen people. The townspeople who ambushed the four began to disperse, leaving behind only them, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom. "Things have changed a little since the last time you were here," Sweetie Belle said. She then pointed at Spike. "And I've never seen you before. So I should show you all around."

Thus, Sweetie Belle began to lead the others on a tour of Ponyville. As they walked however, Applejack and Rarity began to notice a small, but very unsettling detail about their fellow townspeople: Everyone who _could_ carry a weapon _had_ one. Even the children. Applejack had seen the knives on Apple Bloom's belt. And on Sweetie Belle's back hung a… _a…_

"Sweetie Belle, dear, what is _that?_" Rarity asked.

"What, this thing?" She pointed to the object hanging from her back. "I call it an Auto-Crossbow." Indeed, upon closer inspection, the object resembled an oversized crossbow with multiple strings. "Big Macintosh helped me make it. You like it?"

"Um…" was all Rarity could say.

"I have some other stuff I'm building, but I haven't worked on them 'cause I've been busy helping with the walls."

"About that…" Applejack began. "Are those walls meant ta keep monsters outta Ponyville?"

"Yep," Apple Bloom replied. "Some of the hands 'round the farm been seeing them out on the edge of the orchards ever since winter, but they'd always been alone- packs of monsters didn't start showing up until about a month ago. That's when Granny Smith called me home and everyone got started on the walls." She looked back. "Is that why y'all came back to Ponyville? Did Canterlot get overrun with monsters too?"

"…Not exactly," Fluttershy replied.

"So why did you come, then?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Spike intervened before anyone else could begin speaking, explaining how Twilight's magical abilities suddenly manifested one day over a year earlier. How she spent months researching the return of magic, and how it tied to the sudden appearance of monsters. How she had traced the source of the magic to Canterlot, and how the two of them had traveled there to investigate. He told them of the chimera that attacked Sunset Shimmer, and how he and Twilight had slain it (while neglecting to mention that it had been _they _who had loosed it in the first place). And he told of how Twilight had recruited Sunset, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and the others to aid her in a mission of utmost importance- to seek out and activate four long-lost sites in order to restore balance to the flow of magic.

"Whoa…" Apple Bloom said. "That is _awesome!_"

"Can we help out?" Sweetie Belle asked eagerly.

"Sorry, but no," Spike replied. "We're under a time limit- bringing too many people with us will slow us down."

"Oh…" Sweetie Belle looked down sadly.

"Well that's too bad," Apple Bloom said. Then, she stood. "Ah'd love to stay and chat, but Ah need ta get back ta work. Ah'll be seein' y'all." She turned, but suddenly looked back. "Oh, and make sure ta stop by the farm, Applejack. Big Mac and Granny Smith've been worried sick about ya." She looked away again and crouched down- then, she sprinted toward a nearby house, ran up its outer wall a few steps, and leapt back, to another house next to it. She jumped back and forth between the walls until she leapt up to the roof, and out of sight.

Applejack looked on after her, before asking, "...work?"

"Yeah. Apple Bloom has lookout duty, _and_ she has to check all the roofs for monster nests," Sweetie Belle replied. "Some of them can fly, you know."

Sweetie Belle then led the four to a street lined with numerous market stalls. So much noise filled the air that it was almost impossible to hear one's own thoughts, let alone one another's words. They proceeded on, but after a few moments, a shout silenced the crowd:

"_**YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY FROM ME!**_"

A wolf suddenly rounded a street corner ahead of the group and sprinted past them, weaving through the crowd; its fur was matted with blood, and it was covered in several deep gouges. It was pursued by a grey-skinned, silver-haired girl who was also covered in blood; she wore blue-framed glasses, and a wolf pelt was tied around her neck. She clutched a bloody axe in her hand, a wild, bloodthirsty look in her eyes.

But suddenly a blur shot past everyone and struck the wolf. It yelped in pain and fell, sliding down the street a short distance, a fresh arrow sticking out of its back.

The wild-eyed girl looked back, to the arrow's source- standing at the intersection was another girl with pink skin, holding a bow in her hands. She wore a yellow jacket, a grey skirt, and a distinctive tiara-shaped clip in her hair.

"_Diamond!_" The wild-eyed girl stomped up to the archer. "I told you I had that one!"

"If that were true, you would've got it by now," the archer replied. "And could you not yell so much, Silver Spoon? It makes you sound like a crazy person." Then, the archer-_Diamond_- spotted Sweetie Belle. "Well look who it is," she said in a condescending tone. "Weren't you supposed to be finished with that wall by now? It's your fault these monsters keep getting in, you know."

Sweetie Belle crossed her arms and glared at Diamond. "Why don't you focus on your job, and let me worry about mine? Besides, if you were any good at killing monsters, we wouldn't need the wall in the first place."

Diamond gritted her teeth and gripped her bow tightly, but the other girl- Silver Spoon- touched Diamond's shoulder and said, "Forget them, Diamond. We have better things to do than waste time with this loser." After a second, Diamond turned and began to walk away- Silver Spoon looked to the dead wolf sadly for a moment, before she hung her axe from her belt and followed.

Rarity crossed her arms and watched the girls disapprovingly. "A charming pair, those two."

"It's mostly Diamond Tiara," Sweetie Belle replied. "Silver Spoon isn't so bad when she's not hunting monsters. Everyone around keeps an eye on her, though. She _really_ likes killing stuff."

Sweetie Belle resumed leading the four, pushing through the throngs as they continued on our way. As they walked, Fluttershy spotted someone that she recognized- he was a young man with orange hair, light red skin, and who wore a deep red jacket. A shotgun, uncocked, hung from his back. He stood in front of a stall lined with numerous bottles, filled with strange-looking multicolored liquids. The stall was manned by a pair of young women- the one with purple and magenta hair stirred a large cauldron, while the one with green and white hair strummed a tune on a small harp.

Fluttershy tapped Applejack on the shoulder and pointed the man out to her. "Is that-" she began.

"Big Macintosh!" Sweetie Belle called. The man turned to her, and she asked him, "You doing okay, Big Macintosh?"

He nodded. "Eeyup."

"You're patrolling out in the orchards tonight, aren't you?"

He nodded again. "Eeyup."

"Alright then. Be safe out there." Big Macintosh continued on his way. Sweetie Belle said to the others, "Big Mac's part of the City Watch. The Canterlot Police stopped answering calls a couple weeks ago, so the Mayor hired some guys to protect the town."

"Sweetie Belle?" Rarity asked. "I'm glad to see that you and Apple Bloom are alright, but… where's your friend, Scootaloo?"

"Close. She's actually right in here." Sweetie Belle suddenly stopped in front of a featureless, cube-shaped building at the very end of the stall-lined street. The sole feature of the otherwise blank grey wall facing them was a barred window set a few feet above the ground. Swettie Belle jumped up, grabbing the window's ledge, and pulled herself up to look in. "Hey Scootaloo!"

A voice inside called back, "Who is it?"

"It's Sweetie Belle! You got visitors!"

After a moment, a purple-haired girl wearing a black zip-up sweater appeared in the window. "Oh. Hey guys." She looked at Spike. "Who's that?"

"My name is Spike," he replied.

Scootaloo leaned back and forth as she looked through the window, as if searching for something. "Is Rainbow Dash with you guys?"

"I'm sorry," Fluttershy began, "but Rainbow Dash isn't with us. She went east, to the Griffon Islands with Sunset Shimmer."

"Why?"

"Everyone's going on an adventure all around the world to save it from evil magic!" Sweetie Belle cried. "Isn't that awesome!?"

"Yeah, sounds… pretty neat." Scootaloo sounded less than impressed, before disappearing from sight. "Tell Rainbow to send me a text- I wanna be sure she's okay."

Applejack looked to Sweetie Belle after a moment. "What's Scootaloo in jail fer? She get herself inta trouble?"

Sweetie Belle dropped back down. "No, she put herself in there."

"Why?" Rarity asked.

"Well, a couple days ago, some monsters broke down part of the wall and got in. When they went after Scootaloo, she threw some kind of light up into the sky, and this big bird covered in fire came down and fought them." Sweetie Belle reached into her pocket. "I took a picture. Look at this." She held up her phone- the screen showed a massive bird, wreathed in flames, fighting off a large number of monsters.

The others looked at the image with curiosity, but it was Spike who spoke: "Interesting. Can you tell me more about the circumstance that led up to this creature appearing?"

"Nope, sorry." Sweetie Belle put her phone away. "But we can worry about that later. Come on- you should probably introduce yourselves to the Mayor."

Sweetie Belle resumed leading the group down the street, only for them to come to a stop just a few yards later. Up ahead, the street was closed off by a short fence. However, above the fence stretched a large bowl-shaped structure- seemingly made from chain link fences- that completely covered the town hall and a number of other nearby buildings.

"That's 'the Dome.'" Sweetie Belle explained. "We were supposed to put it over the whole town, to keep out the flying monsters. But we ran out of chain link fences, so we had to shrink it down until it got to the middle of town." Sweetie Belle opened the gate set into the fence, and allowed the others to enter. "We put one over the school too, but it isn't as big."

There were people on the inside of "the Dome" as well, though not as many- mostly young children and their parents. Up ahead, the town hall towered over every other building in Ponyville. "There's town hall," Sweetie Belle said. "The front door's on the other side. Let's head around."

The group did just that. But as they rounded the building, the five heard a woman shout, "_Oh you can just go to hell!_" A few moments later, a cellphone bounced and skittered across the ground in front of the group.

There was a sigh, and another woman's voice said, "I'll get it for you, ma'am."

"No no, let me, Miss Ink Well." There was the sound of approaching footsteps, and an older woman with grey hair and a dark grey suit passed by. She was followed by a mousy woman with black hair who wore a black suit and glasses.

Sweetie Belle approached the grey-haired woman. "Everything alright, Miss Mayor?" she asked.

"No," the Mayor replied as she picked up her phone- Sweetie Belle and the others could see a large number of cracks scattered across its screen. "The governor denied my request to send the National Guard to Ponyville again. If he keeps it up, I'm going to go directly to the province Senator. And if that fails, then I'll speak directly to the Consul." She then shook her head. "But I'm sure you have more important things to worry about than political squabbles. How's the wall coming along?"

"Excuse me," Miss Ink Well interrupted. "But who exactly are these people with you?"

"That's Applejack and Rarity- they live here," Sweetie Belle replied as she pointed to each. "And those are their friends Fluttershy and Spike. They're the bandits we spotted earlier." She then said, "Anyway, we closed up the hole the monsters made in the east wall, and we're nearly finished with the bridge over the lake on the south end. We won't be able to put a fence under it though, since we used all the chain link to make the Dome."

"I'll ask the City Watch to double their patrols along the shore. And the west side of town?"

"Working on it. Granny Smith is insisting that I finish the wall around the Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse first."

"I'll see if I can find anyone willing to lend you a hand. And in the meantime, I'll ask the City Watch to increase patrols near the orchards as well. Keep up the good work." With that, she turned, and entered the town hall, followed by Miss Ink Well.

"She seems stressed," Rarity said, crossing her arms. "Much more so than usual, anyway."

"Having monsters outside your town threatening its citizens is probably _very_ stressful," Spike replied. "And it only gets worse over time."

Sweetie Belle turned. "Guess there's only one place left to show you: my workshop. Come on, it's this way."

But Applejack said, "Sweetie Belle, do ya mind of we cut this tour short? Ah wanna check on Granny Smith and make sure she's doin' okay."

"That's fine. My workshop's on the way there." She started walking west. "Just keep an eye out on that side of town- the west wall's not finished yet." The others followed her.

As the group walked to the western edge of Ponyville, the houses became sparser, and the trees became more numerous. But as the Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse came into view, something else grew in number- car after car sat along the sides of the dirt road, abandoned.

"Uh… Sweetie Belle?" Applejack asked. "Why're there people dumpin' cars on our property?"

"The gas station ran out of gas a couple days ago. See?" She pointed back, to the gas station sign rising up in the distance- sure enough, spelled out on the sign in big, blocky letters were the words "OUT OF GAS." Sweetie Belle continued, "So people've been pushing them over here to try and keep the streets clear. But there not dumping them here- I asked people to bring them. I can get a lot of parts from them."

"And people are okay with you just… taking their cars apart?" Spike asked.

"Yeah. No sense letting all the parts go to waste. And take three or four of them, rivet them together, bolt some metal over the windows and bang! Instant barricade. I mean it's not like anyone can go anywhere without gas and with monsters running around everywhere."

"How are Mom and Dad doing?" Rarity asked.

"They're doing just fine," she replied. "Dad does patrols down by the lake. We can go visit them later if you want."

Soon, the five were walking up the small path leading to the Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse- a half-finished wall surrounded the property's far side. "Hey! Miss Smith!" Sweetie Belle called as she bounded up the porch steps.

"Just a minute, dearie…" Granny Smith said, as he picked up a rifle and looked carefully down its sights. She was still for a several moments, before she pulled the trigger- a deafening _bang_ echoed across the farm, and some beast in the distance let out a pained yelp as the old woman's bullet hit its mark. Granny Smith then set the rifle down and asked, "What can Ah do ya fer, Sweetie Belle?"

"You've got visitors," Sweetie Belle replied.

Granny Smith looked past her. "Well call me a bushel! Applejack! Why didn't ya tell me you were comin' home?" She rose from her chair to embrace her granddaughter.

"Well it was a bit of a surprise fer me, too," Applejack replied.

Granny Smith released Applejack and opened the front door. "Come on inside. Ah wasn't expectin' company, but Ah can make lunch for y'all."

"That's very kind of you, ma'am," Spike replied as he stepped into the house.

The others followed him inside… save for Sweetie Belle. Granny Smith noticed. "Aren't you comin' in, Sweetie Belle?"

"Sorry, but I just came to get some supplies for the wall down by the lake. I'll see you later, Miss Smith." Sweetie Belle jumped off the porch and ran down the path she came from.

"Take care of yerself now!" Granny Smith called. "I'll save some apple fritters fer ya!"

* * *

"This scheme of yours will not succeed, Flash Sentry," Twilight said.

"Sure it will," he replied.

"You're trying to pick a lock with a switchblade," Pinkie said.

"Hey, I've seen people do it before."

"Where? _TV?_ You can't believe everything-"

A loud click sounded from the door. The knob turned, and Flash pushed to door open. "Believe _that_," he said.

"And had we simply forced the door, we would already be resting comfortably inside," Twilight said as the three stepped inside.

"We can't just smash the door down- this is someone's house!" Flash protested.

"And picking the lock is better?" Pinkie asked as the three walked down a narrow hall. As she walked, Pinkie noticed a light switch, and flipped it. But nothing happened. She flipped it several more times, but still, nothing happened. "Huh, the lights aren't working,"

"Monsters have most likely disrupted power lines somewhere between this city and their origin," Twilight replied. "Such is likely to be the case for many cities in Equestria. I strongly advise that you grow accustomed to living without amenities requiring electricity."

Earlier that day, Twilight, Pinkie, and Flash had arrived in this small town nestled deep in the woods, named Shady Oaks. However, as they explored the town, it soon became apparent that it was entirely devoid of people- homes, businesses, all stood empty. As the sun set, the three gathered a small amount of supplies, before deciding to bed down in one of the vacant homes for the night.

The trio entered a room with a fireplace set into the far wall, and a couch and armchair surrounding a table in its center- presumably, a living room. "This is creepy," Pinkie said, collapsing into the armchair. "Where're all the people?"

"No idea," Flash replied, as he sat on the couch. "Do you think the monsters got them?"

"Unlikely," Twilight replied, sitting down next to Flash. "There is too little structural damage to the town's buildings. And look at the mantle."

Pinkie and Flash looked. It was empty. After a moment, Pinkie asked, "What about it?"

"Notice the lack of personal effects- these would still be present if the original occupants had been slain by monsters. And as it doesn't appear anyone else entered this home before us, it is far more likely that after encountering the initial waves of monsters, the town's inhabitants packed their belongings and fled to the protection of larger cities. Similar events occurred in my homeland."

At that moment, Twilight became aware of a strange buzzing sound. She listened intently, but could not determine its point of origin. "Uh, Twilight?" Flash began. "…I think that call's for you."

Flash's comment made her realize the buzzing was her cellphone. So she pulled it out and answered it, saying, "Identify yourself."

"It's Rarity," the voice on the other end replied. "Spike says you're an expert in magic, so I'd like to ask you a question."

"Rarity," Twilight said. "It was my understanding that you were to call yesterday. But I digress- ask your question."

"I met a girl today who said that she can… call some sort of monster down from the sky. Would you happen to know about anything like that?"

Twilight leaned forward, intrigued. "Call down a monster, you say? Were you present when this event occurred? Can you describe the monster?"

"Well I didn't see her call the monster in person, but someone _did_ show me a picture of it- it looked like a giant, flaming bird."

After a moment of thought, Twilight said, "A phoenix."

"So you know what it is?"

"I do. The girl you encountered is most likely a summoner: an individual who can, in times of need, call forth entities of great power to aid them."

"And what can you tell me about these _entities?_"

"Aside from the fact that they exist, very little, unfortunately- the biology and behaviors of these entities were not well understood, even by summoners themselves. However, all ancient magic-wielding civilizations acknowledged their existence, identifying them under different names- eidolons, aeons, espers… but modern scholarly nomenclature refers to them as 'summoned entities,' or simply as 'summons.' In addition, it is believed that all summoned entities were called from the same pool, as different civilizations often depict similar or identical entities, even if these depictions were made hundreds of years apart." Twilight took a deep breath. "…Is that information sufficient?"

"One last thing: Are these… _summons_ dangerous?"

"Indeed. Many of these entities are _quite_ dangerous. But they are bound to their summoner's will entirely- they will not attack anyone their summoner does not consider an enemy."

"That's a relief. I'm sure Scootaloo will be glad to hear that. Thank you, Twilight."

"I am glad I could be of assistance. Safe travels to you." Twilight pulled the phone away from her ear.

But Pinkie suddenly shouted "Wait, don't hang up! I wanna talk to Rarity!" She leapt over the table, reaching for Twilight's phone, but Twilight held her at bay with her free arm; all the while, Pinkie shouted, "_Rarity! Rarity can you hear me? …Hi Rarity!_" When Twilight hung up, she complained "Aw man, what'd you do that for? I wanted to talk to Rarity too."

"Pinkie, you have a cellphone. You can call Rarity on your own," Flash said.

"Oh yeah…" Pinkie replied as she sank back into her armchair.

As Pinkie pulled out her phone, Flash looked to Twilight and asked, "So what did Rarity want?"

"A query about a magic phenomenon she observed."

"Well, I'm glad to hear Rarity and the others are alright." Flash sank down into the couch. "I wonder if Sunset and Rainbow are okay."

"I imagine that they are still alive. But if you are unwilling to take my word for it, you also possess means by which to contact them." Twilight set her bag on the ground, along with her hat. "We rest here for tonight. But we must depart at first light tomorrow morning."

"Why so early?" Flash asked.

"This town may be abandoned at present, but soon, monsters will come to claim it as their den. It would be wise to move on before they arrive."

Pinkie pulled a lever on the side of her armchair, pushing it into a reclining position. "Yeah, I guess that's fair."

* * *

Rarity put away her phone. Although it was dark, Ponyville was still alive with activity- people sat on street corners playing games or musical instruments, a crowd had gathered near Berry Punch's to watch the television, and townspeople bearing torches and flashlights patrolled the streets, bathed in the soft orange light of glowing street lamps.

However, Rarity's interest did not lie with anyone on the streets. Rather, it laid with the occupant of a featureless grey building at the end of a street lined with empty market stalls. She looked up at the barred window set into the wall slightly above her head, and called, "Scootaloo? Are you awake?"

She heard Scootaloo moving inside the cell. "What? Who's out there?"

"It's Rarity. Sweetie Belle's big sister?"

Scootaloo appeared in the window. "Oh. What's up, Rarity?"

"I just got off the phone with a friend of mine." Rarity leaned against the jail's outer wall. "She's very well-read in things related to magic, so I asked her about your abilities. And she said you're most likely something called a summoner. From what she told me, these creatures you call are completely under your control- they won't hurt anyone you don't tell them to."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Rarity froze. "I… suppose you don't. You'll just have to take my word."

"Listen," Scootaloo began. "I know what you're trying to do. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom did the same thing. And I'll tell you what I told them: I'm not coming out of this cell. My… _abilities_… are too dangerous. It's better for everyone that I stay in here."

"That's not true, dear." Rarity pushed herself away from the wall. "The creature you summoned helped you, didn't it? You can do the same for others. You shouldn't be letting your abilities go to waste when there are others out there fighting with no special powers at all." Her last few words had more than a small touch of jealously to them. Sunset, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy… everyone had seemingly gained some sort of exceptional talent. Except for her. All she had were her own two fists.

There was no reply from the window.

"A day might come where you'll need to use your power," Rarity continued. "To save your life. Or the life of one of your friends. And that day might come much sooner than you'd like. Remember that."

Still, there was no answer.

Rarity sighed, but said no more. Instead, she turned away from the window, and began to walk home.

* * *

The next morning dawned over Ponyville. Sweetie Belle had gathered the four together in the Sweet Apple Acres barn, to show them all the things she had made over the last few weeks.

Applejack and Spike stood in front of one of several tables scattered throughout the barn- on its surface were scattered empty cans, small coils of wire, and a collection of strange, slimy, slightly squishy objects neither could identify. "What are all these things anyway?" Spike asked, picking up one of the squishy objects to inspect it more closely.

"Bomb cores," Sweetie Belle replied. "I use them to make my flash grenades."

Spike quickly put the object down.

Sweetie Belle noticed Spike's action. "Oh don't worry, they won't go off without a primer."

"Sweetie Belle, darling? When did you learn to make bombs?" Rarity asked

"The Internet, mostly."

"And the rest?" Applejack asked.

She beamed. "Trial and error!"

The others merely stared at her in silence.

"What? It only took me six tries. _And_, I didn't blow any of my fingers off!" She held up her hands to show that there were indeed still ten fingers attached.

Applejack turned her attention back to the bomb cores. "Ya seriously use these in yer flash grenades? They don't look like any bomb parts Ah've ever seen."

"You haven't seen them yet, have you?"

"Seen what, dear?" Rarity asked.

"It's one of the monster types that show up sometimes- they're these weird fireball things that blow up if you hit them too much but don't kill them. People around town started calling them "Bombs" because of it."

"Really?" Spike asked. "In Albion, there were monsters that exploded if you attacked them as well. Are they fire-based?"

"I think so. Why?"

"Just curious." He then muttered to himself, "_The situation is worse than we thought. Those 'Bombs' are highly magical- they shouldn't be appearing in a region with low magic concentration like this…_"

His thoughts were interrupted when Applejack asked Sweetie Belle, "…And Granny Smith is okay with ya campin' out in the barn?"

"Yeah. She says I can stay as long as I help keep the monsters out of the orchards. And I don't camp out here- it's just where I keep all my stuff 'cause Mom and Dad say I can't work on my projects at home anymore."

Applejack approached one of the numerous workbenches, and looked down at the object resting on it. "…Is this what Ah think it is?"

Sweetie Belle looked back. "What?" Then she saw. "Oh. _That_. Pretty cool right?" She approached the worktable, picked up the object, and showed it to the others- it resembled a rifle, with a gas canister stuck to the side and a multi-pronged hook stuck in its barrel. "Grappling hook gun. This one I made all by myself. Check it out." She aimed the grappling hook up at one of the barn's rafter. A small, cocky smile crossed Sweetie Belle's lips as she pulled the trigger.

The gun made a loud click, but nothing happened. Sweetie Belle pulled the trigger several more times, but other than several clicks, the gun did nothing."

Sweetie Belle checked the side of the gun. "Darn it. The compressed air tank's empty again." She set the gun back on its table. "It really does work though, I promise." She turned. "It's weird though…"

"What's weird?" Fluttershy asked.

"You know that blonde girl with the funny eyes from school? She lives here, and the day after I showed this grappling hook gun to everyone, I saw her swinging around town with one of her own. And the day before that, she was casting some spells Miss Ink Well was practicing. And the day before _that_, I saw her fighting with a whole bunch of weapons I'd never seen her use before." Sweetie Belle shook her head. "Sorry, getting off topic."

Fluttershy looked up at a massive, box-shaped thing, suspended from the barn's ceiling by chains. "…And what's this supposed to be?"

Sweetie Belle looked up to it as well. "No idea. I'll let you know when I finish it." Sweetie Belle approached yet another table- this one covered in a seemingly endless amount of papers. "But anyway, that's all the stuff I'm working on right now. Now I need to finish mapping out the last part of the wall. Hopefully, Apple Bloom can help me scrounge up more materials before I run out again."

"Well, Ah'm glad ta see everyone's doin' okay," Applejack said. "But we gotta be headin' out now. Keep Apple Bloom outta trouble."

Sweetie Belle looked back. "I'll try." She then waved to everyone. "Be safe out there. And good luck with that thing you're trying to do!" With that, she turned her attention back to her worktable.

"I'm glad to see Sweetie Belle is alright," Rarity began as the group left the barn, "though I have to admit, I don't approve of her working on such dangerous objects."

"Everyone's just trying to do what they can to survive," Spike replied. "Weapons, magic, machines; however they do it, it doesn't matter as long as it keeps them safe." He then said. "But we have more important things to focus on."

"Like what?" Fluttershy asked.

"We still haven't decided who'll go to the Cape of Storms and who'll go to the Land of Fire." Spike looked to Applejack. "I'm guessing you're still going south?"

"Ah am," she replied.

Spike then looked to Rarity and Fluttershy. "What about you two? Have you decided yet?"

The two were silent for a brief moment. "…Well, I can't say I've ever heard of this 'Land of Fire,'" Rarity replied, "but it does sound like an interesting place. I think I'll accompany you, Spike."

Applejack looked to Fluttershy. "Sorry Fluttershy, but it looks like yer comin' with me to the Cape of Storms." Fluttershy looked worried. More so than usual. "Ya don't have ta look so down- Ah promise Ah won't let anythin' happen ta ya."

"The Cape of Storms is in the Zebra Nation, right Spike?" Rarity asked. He nodded, and she looked to Applejack and Fluttershy. "Well, you two should be able to ride a train down to the border at the very least. And _we_ can take the westbound train to the coast."

"The train station's not far from here," Applejack said. "We should stop by- maybe we'll get lucky and the trains'll still be runnin'."

A few minutes later, the four climbed the small steps leading up to the train station platform. It was on the west side of town, in-between Sweet Apple Acres and the rest of the town. The wall had yet to reach the tracks, which stretched on to the northern and southern horizons. Rarity looked away from a sign posted at the edge of the platform. "You're in luck, Applejack," she said. "According to this schedule, a southbound train should be arriving in just a few minutes."

"Alright," she replied. "We'll just hafta wait fer it." So, the four sat down, and waited.

And waited.

Some time passed, but still, no train arrived. Eventually, Spike looked to the others and asked, "So… when is this train supposed to get here?"

At that moment, a lanky man with orange hair and wearing a baker's uniform walked by the train platform. "Hello children," he called to them.

"Hello, Mr. Cake," Rarity replied. "How's business?"

Mr. Cake scratched his neck. "Doing alright, all things considered. What are you kids doing here?"

"Waiting for a train," Spike replied.

"Well I'm sorry to tell you this, but you might be waiting for a while."

"Why's that?" Applejack asked.

Mr. Cake looked down the tracks. "A train was supposed to come up from Appleloosa a few days ago, but it never showed. And with all the monsters around, no one's volunteered to go looking for it."

Rarity looked to her friends. "So, that means there's a train sitting out somewhere blocking the tracks."

"If that's the case, it's probably safe to assume all of the other trains have stopped as well," Spike said.

"What should we do?" Fluttershy asked.

"The only thing we can do," Applejack replied. "We go on foot."

Suddenly, somewhere in the distance, a bell began to ring. It was followed by another, and another followed that one- soon, dozens of bells were ringing all over Ponyville, filling the air with a deafening racket.

"Mr. Cake, what's happening!" Rarity shouted, barely able to hear her own words over the din.

But Mr. Cake didn't answer. He was running towards the town hall, pulling an axe from his belt. Without delay, Spike jumped from the platform and followed- unwilling to abandon their ally, the others did the same.

The group followed Mr. Cake toward the east end of town. As they ran, others joined them- men, women, the young, the old… the only thing each had in common was that they wielded a weapon of some sort. The four were pushed by the crowd to the east edge of town, to a small park by the wall, near a gazebo. But before coming to a stop, they saw what everyone was running towards.

Before them was a massive creature, longer and wider than a bus. It stood on a pair of clawed feet, resting its massive wings against the ground. Its bladed tail flicked back and forth, and its mouth hung open, exposing rows of sharpened teeth. Its blue scales gleamed in the sunlight, and its elongated neck gave it a superior view of its enemies. It reared back, and let out a furious, piercing roar.

"Wyvern." Spike whipped out his spear. "All of you stay back. This is not a fight for amateurs."

"Like hell!" Applejack drew her guns. "I ain't gonna let this thing come inta mah hometown and threaten mah family!"

"I must agree with Applejack," Rarity said. "I too have family here that I must protect."

The three looked back to Fluttershy. "It's alright if ya don't wanna stay, Fluttershy," Applejack said. "Ah know getting' roped inta somethin' like this is the last thing ya'd want. So get yerself somewhere safe- don't you worry 'bout us."

Fluttershy took a step back, seemingly prepared to take up Applejack's offer. But then, she shook her head and said firmly, "_No._ I can't let my friends get hurt while I run away. I'll fight too." Her words were brave, but the others could see the trembling in Fluttershy's hands.

Spike turned toward the wyvern. "You're afraid," he said, crouching down. "It's alright. …_I'm_ afraid, too."

The asphalt beneath his feet buckled as Spike jumped into the air. He rose ten, twenty feet into the air, and drew back his spear as he prepared a powerful strike. The wyvern looked to the sudden motion and drew back to strike, but it was too late- Spike swung his spear with all his might as he passed, leaving a deep gouge across the beast's forehead.

The wyvern roared in pain. And as though it were a signal, everyone began to attack. Applejack began to fire her semiauto- Rarity charged, striking the beast's side with powerful punches. Fluttershy stood behind them concentrating, a bright white light shining from the end of her staff, ready to heal her friends- or anyone else who might be injured- at a moment's notice. And when Spike landed, he turned and stabbed his spear deep into the wyvern's scales.

But by no means were the four alone. Silver Spoon charged and hacked at the wyvern's side wildly, roaring in a bloodthirsty frenzy- her friend Diamond Tiara stood on a nearby rooftop, raining an endless stream of arrows down on the beast. Big Macintosh fired round after round from his shotgun, reloading after each shot. A blonde girl with eyes that pointed in different directions attacked the beast's left side with magic and melee, alternating between swinging her sword and throwing long spears of ice. The Mayor stood back from the front line, firing an endless stream of bullets from her pistol, while her assistant Miss Ink Well rained lightning down on the beast. Seemingly every person in town aided in the battle against the titanic beast; even the harp player- whose song invigorated the tired muscles of all who heard it- and the potion-maker- who threw bottles of green liquid that scorched anything it splashed over.

The beast roared in pain again as it stumbled back, seemingly unable to decide which of the numerous targets before him to attack first. But then, it drew back its wing and batted aside the people attacking its front. Rarity tumbled across the ground, tucking in her limbs, before she righted herself and slid to a stop. Most of the others who had been knocked off their feet quickly rose as well.

"You okay Rarity!" Applejack called. She focused, and fired an electrified bullet from her revolver.

"Just fine, dear!" she called back. For a moment, Rarity was bathed in a white light, and the pain in her body was lessened- no doubt Fluttershy had just cast a healing spell on her. Rarity began to charge the wyvern, when Sweetie Belle stepped into her path.

"_Hey!_" Sweetie Belle shouted. "I've got something for you right here!" She pulled the massive crossbow from her back, aimed, and fired. The machine let out a loud _thunk_ as a cloud of bolts shot out at the wyvern. Every one struck its mark- the beast snarled in pain, before glaring down at Sweetie Belle. It stomped over to her, ignoring the others attacking it, and batted Sweetie Belle aside- the crossbow flew from her hands as she tumbled across the ground.

"_Sweetie Belle no!_" Rarity rushed the wyvern, shouting, "_Fluttershy, help Sweetie Belle! This one's_ _**mine!**_" She drew her fists back as she prepared to strike with all of her strength.

The wyvern drew back its head and lunged at her. But Rarity held her ground; she swung her fist and struck the beast's snout with a mighty blow, sending it reeling back. Rarity was far from finished however- she charged the wyvern again, and delivered a series of devastating punches to its face. As the beast was stunned, she drew back, and smashed into its snout with a crushing headbutt. Rarity then swung her leg up, bringing it down heel-first on the wyvern's head with tremendous force. Finally, she ducked down and pulled her fist back in preparation for her final attack- a leaping uppercut.

In the brief moment when Rarity's fist was still, a flash appeared within. And as she swung her fist, it was engulfed in a burst of fire.

Her fist struck the underside of the wyvern's jaw, leaving fire in its wake. As she rose the great beast was thrown off of its feet. The wyvern tumbled through the air, before crashing back down on the gazebo, crushing it. Rarity landed- she could only look at the fallen wyvern, then down to her own fist, in utter disbelief.

For several moments, the wyvern laid still. But then, the beast stirred, and began to rise to its feet once again. "_Oh __**come on!**_" Rarity shouted in protest. The wyvern focused its full attention on Rarity, slowly drawing back its tail. Spike saw what the beast was about to do- and with blinding speed he rushed toward her and shoved her out of the way, just as the wyvern began to swing its tail. The blow struck Spike dead-center and knocked him off his feet- he skipped across the ground twice, before crashing through the outer wall of the jail.

Scootaloo screamed and jolted in surprise as the wall of her cell suddenly exploded. She jumped off of her bed- through the dust, she could see someone clad in purple armor slumped against the wall, before he rose to his feet.

"_Spike?_" Scootaloo asked, incredulous. "Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine," he replied, already striding out of the building- his armor was badly dented and scratched, but Spike himself appeared unharmed.

Scootaloo followed to the edge of the hole. Outside, she could see the other residents of Ponyville battling the wyvern. On instinct, she began running toward the wyvern before she stopped, remembering that she was unarmed. She stood motionless, wanting to do something, _anything_ to assist, but was unsure what to do…

Until a shout snapped her out of it. "Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom dropped down next to her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, but what's going on out here?"

Apple Bloom pointed. "_That!_" The wyvern roared furiously as it swung its tail at another group of townspeople. "You gotta help us out, Scootaloo! Do that thing you did before!"

"What!? Apple Bloom I can't-"

"_Come on Scootaloo! We can't handle this ourselves!_"

Scootaloo looked to Apple Bloom, then the wyvern. Then, she took a deep breath. "…alright."

She rested a fist against her chest and closed her eyes. Vibrant swirls of red and green surrounded her, and a bright ball of green light appeared her fist. The, Scootaloo looked up, and threw the light into the sky overhead.

The ball of light shot up into the air like a flare- a blanket of thick clouds suddenly rolled overhead, swallowing the light. But only a moment later, the clouds parted to allow a blazing streak of fire passage. It dived toward the ground in a wild spiral, before flaring its wings, revealing itself to be a massive bird cloaked in flames.

The great flaming bird swooped down and landed next to Scootaloo, making the ground shake. Scootaloo reached out to it slowly, her hand shaking, but the bird spread its wings again and took flight before she made contact. Scootaloo then pointed to the wyvern, stammering, "…G… Go get it!"

The firebird flapped its wings and dived towards the wyvern. The beast lashed out, jaws wide, teeth bared, but the bird evaded the attack, and dug its talons into the wyvern's neck. It thrashed and roared in pain as it attempted to dislodge the firebird, to no avail. Then the wyvern spread its wings and pushed itself into the air, and dropped down on its back- the firebird screeched as it impacted the ground, and finally released its hold. But the flaming bird took to the air once more, its wings engulfed in flames. It drew its wings back, and let forth another powerful flap, raining fire down on the wyvern. The wyvern again roared in pain as its scales shriveled and split open, revealing angry red flesh beneath. But the wyvern charged in spite of its wounds.

With a flap of its wings, the firebird lifted itself into the air, out of the wyvern's reach. It drew back its head and opened its beak, a ball of brilliant red light forming within. Then, a bright beam shot from the firebird's beak- it ran along the ground under the wyvern, great flames erupting in its wake. The wyvern screeched as its scales bubbled and melted away under the intense heat.

The wyvern collapsed- great chunks of blackened scales and flesh fell from its body and crumbled to ashes upon hitting the ground, exposing sinews and bone. Despite its wounds, the beast tried to drag itself toward the firebird, roaring and snapping its jaws furiously. But its wounds were simply too great- the great beast's movements slowed, and with one last rattling breath, it fell forward, and fell silent.

The firebird looked down at its fallen opponent, before it reared back and let out a triumphant screech. Then it dived, landing next to Scootaloo once again. Slowly, she again reached out to the flaming bird. It did not retreat, nor did it make any sound at her movement- it simply stood, utterly still, watching her. Her hand came within inches- she drew it back slightly, but then rested her hand against the bird's feathers. It was warm… but not uncomfortably so. Scootaloo stroked the firebird's feathers, and the bird moved closer to her in response.

Rarity was the first to approach her. Applejack followed, as did Spike and Fluttershy. "Are you okay, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"…Philomena," Scootaloo said.

"What?" Fluttershy asked.

Scootaloo looked back. "That's her name. Philomena."

"How do you know that?" Spike asked.

"Because she told me." She looked back to the bird. "You should go."

The bird seemed to nod to her. It then spread its wings, and flames erupted across its body. Scootaloo and the others stumbled back from the heat; but after several moments, the fire burned out, leaving nothing behind.

For a moment, there was silence. Then, someone shouted, "We did it!"

A deafening roar filled the air as the townspeople cheered and rattled their weapons, with a few gunshots punctuating their cheers. But the cheers died down as the Mayor began to shout, "Alright, alright! The town is safe for now, but that's not an excuse to slack off! City Watch, resume patrols! Anyone with medical skills, tend to the wounded! Everyone else, start clearing out this body!"

Several people- presumably members of the City Watch- snapped to attention and shouted "Yes ma'am!" before dispersing. The others who remained began either tending to the fallen, or converged on the wyvern's body.

The four looked on at the activity for several moments, before they turned to one another. "Well, now that that's taken care of, Ah s'pose we should all be on our way," Applejack said.

"I suppose you're right," Rarity replied. "We'll try to stay in touch with you two as much as we can."

"Keep an eye on Fluttershy, and your gun," Spike said to Applejack. "If anything happens to them, let Twilight know right away."

"Everyone, be safe," Fluttershy said. "Please."

"We will, dear," Rarity replied. "Good luck, everyone." She held out her hand. Applejack rested her own on top of it, followed by Fluttershy, and then by Spike.

"It's strange," Fluttershy said. "We just said goodbye to everyone already, and now here we are doing it all over again."

"Don't worry," Applejack replied. "Like Ah said before: We'll all turn on our sites, and we'll all go home. Together."

Spike pulled his hand away. One by one, the others did the same. Then, Applejack turned to the south. "No use standin' around now. Let's go Fluttershy." She began to walk away, with Fluttershy hurrying to catch up.

"I believe that's our cue," Rarity said. Then, she and Spike turned, and began to walk away as well.

* * *

"_Hi-yaaaah!_" Rainbow threw her shuriken with all her strength. It ripped through the air, cutting clean through the black condor in front of her. It banked and returned- Rainbow jumped, slipping her fingers around the shuriken's handle perfectly.

Rainbow landed and cheered, "_Oh yeah!_ Getting better all the time!"

Only one foe remained before Sunset and Rainbow- a single rabid dog.

Sunset drew back her sword; but as she did, she saw something stuck to the dog's fur. "Hold on, that one's got something!" She looked to Rainbow. "Rainbow, think you can grab it?"

"Think? I _know_ I can!" Rainbow crouched down, before charging the dog. It leapt at her in turn- Rainbow crouched, and leapt over the dog, plucking the object from the dog's fur. When she landed, she shouted, "Let 'em have it, Sunset!"

"No problem." Sunset charged as well, turning her sword around and stabbing it through the dog's neck. It yelped and snapped its teeth at her for a few moments, before it fell still.

Sunset pulled out her sword, letting the dog fall to the ground, and said to herself, "And then there were none." She then looked to Rainbow. "So, what'd you get?"

Rainbow looked down at her prize- a small number of rumpled, slightly wet bit notes. "Aw man, it's just some money."

"Well, that's not so bad." Sunset sheathed her sword. "We'll need as much cash as we can get if we're gonna get a boat to the Griffon Islands."

"I guess you're right." Rainbow and Sunset continued down the road- as they did, Rainbow reached into her pocket and pushed a pair of headphones into her ears.

Sunset asked, "What're you listening to?"

"The news. With all the craziness that's going on, it's probably a good idea to 'keep an ear to the ground,' as Applejack would say." She was silent for a few moments. "…You know, it's a good thing we got out of Canterlot when we did."

"Why's that?"

"The National Guard just put up a perimeter around the whole city. No one can go in or out."

"Guess that explains all the military trucks we saw yesterday."


End file.
